Love and War
by S. S. Shadow
Summary: New powers, new threats, and a level beyond SSJ 4? Secrets are exposed, history is retold, and the rebirth of a hero. All this and more in the newest chapter of Love and War. Chapter 11 is now up!
1. Introduction

Love and War  
  
Chapter: Introduction  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I herby declare that I DO NOT own any of the characters presented in this story. They are the sole property of their rightful owners. I do however own the plot for this story. I do this for no financial gain whatsoever. I do this for the sole purpose to entertain you, and myself.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
(A dark portal of swirling black energy appears in front of the readers. Out of the portal, a dark figure clad in black from head to toe is left steps out. He is a white male, approximately 6'3" in height. A dark cloak cascades down his back and swirls around in front of him. A hood at the top the cloak covers all but his nose and mouth.)  
  
  
  
  
  
"Greetings fellow readers. I am S. S. Shadow, guardian of oblivion, and protector of dimensions, as well as the worlds that reside in said dimensions. I have come here tonight to introduce to you, a story based on the outstanding anime 'Dragon Ball Z'. I will tell you now that my story takes place after the episode where Majin Buu blows Gohan off into the distance, but before Vegita arrives on the scene. In fact, one of the changes I'm making, (I will list them all later) is that Vegita and Goku BOTH take off to confront Buu together as a team instead of Goku being knock out. I would like to say at this time, that I am an extreme fan of Gohan, and Gohan/Videl pairings. With that being said, back to the settings of my story's beginning."  
  
"I have great plans for this story, but I'm afraid that, due to other responsibilities, and the fact that I have a sequel to a different story in the works, I have no idea as to how fast I will be capable of updating, and depending on time allowed, how long or short each chapter will be. Unlike my first story, (Rainy Day Lover 'Tenchi Muyo') I will basically be 'winging it' as some say it terms of what, when, and how I write. I have no idea how long this story will be, believe me when I say that it will be fairly long."  
  
What will my story contain? Well, it will contain ideas that while some may not be entirely original, will be taken to a level that I assume, (and hope) hasn't been done yet, and while I prefer to keep my ideas a secret in order to prevent someone beating me to the punch, I will tell you one thing I have in mind. We all know about Super Sayin-jin level 4 right? Well, what if there happened to be a level BEYOND even that? It has been proven that the ability to reach, and ascend to the next level comes from a need, not a desire. That fact was proven numerous times through the series in fights with Freeza, Cell, and Majin Buu, though my story will take place before anyone reaches level 4, or even 3 for that matter, just for the sake of a decent story, I'll ascend Goku to level 3 and Vegita to level 3 later on. Getting back on track, these enemies made our heroes rise to the occasion if you will. Now what if an even stronger enemy arrived, and the need for an even GREATER power created? Could they do it? Who would be the first to claim such a power? I plan to answer these questions and more in my story."  
  
"I intend to make this a story composed of action along with some romance hence the name for this story. Though I will try to keep it 50/50, it might become closer to 60/40 or 70/30 in favor of action. The action will consist of an common invasion from a not so common enemy, while the romance will be between Gohan and Videl. As an added note, even though I have yet to try writing one, if I receive enough reviews in general along the way, as well as those who ask for it, I may even squeeze in a lemon or two, but you must review.  
  
"Next, the settings from which my story will start:  
  
Takes place after Gohan is blown away, but before Goku and Vegita arrive. (mentioned above)  
  
Gohan and Videl already care a great deal about one another (like it isn't anymore obvious) but still have to admit it. Note: this relationship will be important to the outcome of the conflict in this story towards the end.  
  
I will be self-inserting myself into this story as myself within the first few (if not the first) chapters. My character will be important as to how Gohan develops in the story. One thing is certain, when I am done with him, he will be capable of mopping the floor with the entire Z-senshi at their strongest without breaking a sweat. ( I have already condemned the soul of the person who made Gohan a weakling after the Cell Saga to Oblivion)  
  
I will be changing the personalities of some characters in order to better fit my story, so just go with the flow and everything will be fine.  
  
Just a note: the attacks that I plan on using in my story aside from the Z- Senshi's attacks, are from a game called Chrono Cross, and are owned and copyrighted by Squaresoft. Gohan and myself will be the primary users of such attacks."  
  
  
  
"That is all I can think of at this time in terms of how the start of my story will be I hope it enough to interest you in reading, and for my sake, reviewing it. If, along the way you have a question about my story in regard to content, please leave it in the form of a review. If I don't plan on writing the chapter so that it answers your question. I will personally write your name, and a response before or after I start the next chapter. I seriously hope that you will review, compliments, and constructive criticism are welcome, for they are the lifeblood of every fanfiction author. It is what inspires us to continue writing. As for those of you who wish to flame me, I will take your flames, and cast them into the darkest, and deepest depths of oblivion that I possess knowledge of, I must now return to my post as guardian for the time being, I will be watching though as to how you respond to my story however, goodnight."  
  
S. S. Shadow turns, and is about to step into the portal before pausing. Now, with back to the readers, he calls out once more:  
  
"I have been asked on a few occasions what my name means, or more precisely, what the two S's in front of my name mean, and in response…well…" Suddenly, the ground beneath Shadow's feet begins to shake and splinter while bits and pieces of earth and gravel spin wildly around him trapped in a cyclone of yellow energy revolving around Shadow. After a brief minute or so, the ground settles, and the wind dies down, but not before blowing back the hood on Shadow's cloak, revealing multiple locks of glowing, golden hair that manage to extend outward in multiple directions, yet still fall slightly backwards behind his head. Looking back over his shoulder, Shadow narrowed his single visible teal eye as a smirk; almost smug in nature crossed his face "…lets just say that it fits who I am rather well."  
  
Facing forward once again, Shadow steps through the portal, and disappears in its swirling rings of dark energy before the vortex of power closes behind him, rotating like a top as it gets smaller, and smaller, until nothing is left to prove that it ever existed. 


	2. Chapter I: The arrival

Love and War  
  
Chapter 1 of ?  
  
  
  
  
  
Oblivion's portal opens before the readers, as Shadow steps out of its swirling darkness to address the readers. "Greeting fellow DBZ fans, I am pleased that all of you have decided to join me tonight. I promise to be brief. It is finally time to begin what I hope will be, one of my greatest (and hopefully, not my last) piece of written literature. Please be patient with my updates, and prepare for a long run. (Believe me, it will be fairly long.) Now, without further ado, let the story commence."  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I herby declare that I DO NOT own any of the characters presented in this story. They are the sole property of their rightful owners. I do however own the plot for this story. I do this for no financial gain whatsoever. I do this for the sole purpose to entertain you, and myself.  
  
  
  
"talking"  
  
'thinking'  
  
  
  
  
  
As Earth's two most powerful warriors, Goku and Vegeta continued their battle in what had now become a dry, desolate, and barren wasteland composed of sand and a few remaining mountains that had yet to crumble under their extreme power, Trunks and Goten, who had finally arrived on the scene, were joined by Piccolo and Krillin, now free of their concrete confinement due to the destruction of Dabura, watched on in silent horror, as the phenomenal, pink, powerhouse know as Majin Buu, continued his relentless assault on the supreme kai, as ordered to by his master, the green miniature wizard Babidi. While these events took place, the young demi-saiyan Gohan, laid helpless and unconscious, while battered, bruised, and bloody in the depths of an unknown woodland miles away as the result of Majin Buu's attack as he attempted to help the supreme kai.  
  
Curious as to the still and silent stranger that just fell from the sky, a few members of the local wildlife ventured forward to investigate, while others decided to stay within the protection the surrounding trees and rocks. Just as the brave critters reached their target, a circular portal of dark swirling light, crackling with energy, appeared at the head of young Gohan. Out of the portal stepped a lone male figure, dressed from head to toe in black garments, accessorized by what could only be described as saiyan armor; boots, gloves, and breastplate, which also appeared to be completely black. The only thing not black, was what seemed to be a brown belt wrapped around the mysterious stranger's waist, but even that was almost completely covered by a cloak, as dark as night in appearance, which flowed freely down to his the knees, and was attached to a hood that covered all but the nose and mouth of the slightly tanned visitor. Startled by this sudden intrusion, all the animals evacuated the scene, leaving the fallen warrior to whatever fate this visitor may have planned for him.  
  
Smirking in contentment at the fleeing, forest dwellers, the stranger paused before looking at the young fighter at his feet. A small frown formed on his face as he dropped to a knee beside Gohan. Placing his right index and middle finger together against his neck, a small smile once again crossed his face as he felt a barely existent, but steady pulse beating within him. Rising back to his feet, the dark visitor extended his hand out, palm down, over the defeated fighter's chest. Speaking a few words too soft to hear, the dark figure's eyes flash a light sky blue from under his hood. As quickly as it appeared, the light disappeared from his eyes, returning them to their normal darkened state. The light, which just vanished from his eyes, now become visible around his outstretched hand, and soon, out of nowhere, began to radiate from Gohan's still form.  
  
Turning his palm so that it was now facing up, he raised his arm up above his head, and observed as Gohan's body levitated into the air and stopped at the dark visitor's waist. As the light surrounding his hand dissipated, the shadowy figure dropped his arm back to his side and turned around as he began to walk back towards the portal that he had stepped out of earlier. Gohan's limp body floated behind him as he proceeded towards his destination. Pausing at the entrance of the gateway, the cloaked fighter, using his senses to detect the evil ki energy of Babidi, and Buu, looked over his shoulder at the young saiyan in his possession with a small frown a what one might have thought to be sadness upon his exposed facial features. "You were greatly unprepared for this new evil young warrior, but I will changed that. When I am done with you, the power that you possess will be more then enough to defeat the threat at hand." The masked man turned back towards the portal. 'I just hope that it is enough to defeat the threat yet to come.' With that final thought, both figures disappear into the portal, which continues to swirl, becoming smaller and smaller, until there is nothing left to prove that it ever existed.  
  
  
  
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Sensing the sudden flare of wicked power release in the distance, both mighty warriors, covered in cuts and dust, and tired from their physical exertions, froze in mid-stride, heads snapping in the direction of the energy's source, surprise evident on both of their faces. Goku was the first to speak. "Wow, did you just feel that tremendous energy in the distance? It must be that Buu monster the Supreme Kai was telling us about."  
  
"Yes, I felt it, but so what? It is none of our concern. Our only worry right now is finishing this fight" 'Though I have never really felt any power such as this in my life' Goku turned his head back to face Vegeta in utter disbelief.  
  
"Are you kidding?! What do you mean it none of our concern? We're the ones responsible for that thing escaping, of course it's our concern. We have to go and help Gohan and the Supreme Kai. They might be in trouble."  
  
"NO! I have waited seven years for this fight, seven years to prove I am the greater fighter! I will not wait any longer, this ends now!" Vegeta screamed in anger.  
  
"Vegeta, if we don't stop this thing, it will destroy innocent people, Bulma and Trunks included, is that what you want? Do you want your family, your ONLY family to be destroyed? Goku responded, anger evident in his voice as well. Hearing this, the saiyan prince could only stand in silence as his mind fought an internal battle to decide his next action. All the while still locking eyes with his rival, and not moving away any farther then the few feet that currently separated them. Goku noticed and watched as under his calm, cool façade, Vegeta's emotions began to war amongst each other, the fight clearly evident in behind his eyes.  
  
'Bulma and Trunks, Gone? I can't let that happen. No, I must finish this fight. I must prove that I am stronger then Kakarrot. What about my family, they'll be helpless? So what? I don't need them. All I need is my strength, it is my life. No, my life is with my mate and son…' This exchange went on for a few more minutes before Vegeta finally seemed to make his decision.  
  
"Vegeta?"  
  
"humph, fine."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I said fine! Our fight will be postponed until Buu is defeated…" Goku's eyes lit up as he grinned.  
  
"Great! I knew you'd make the right choice."  
  
"…but, after we defeat this thing, we WILL finish this, and I WILL beat you." Vegeta finished.  
  
"Agreed, but for now, our enemies are Buu and Babidi..." Vegeta nodded in agreement. "…but first…" Goku removed the last senzu bean from the pouch on his belt, broke it in half, and tossed one half to Vegeta. "…we need to replenish our strength. We'll need to be at full power when we fight this enemy. I can tell already that he's strong." They both ate their part of the magical bean, and the results were immediate. All of the cuts and bruises began to seal and heal while the energy lost in the battle was restored. After a minute or two, both fighters had reverted back to the same state that they were in before their battle had begun. "There, much better. Well, lets go." Goku prepared to take off before Vegeta called back to him.  
  
"Wait!"  
  
"Huh? What now? We have to hurry."  
  
"I know, which is why I suggest we just blow our way through the ship." Vegeta explained, while pointing to the opening in the ground. "Flying will take us too long, and we don't know their EXACT location. If we go through the ship, the other end is bound to lead right to them." Vegeta stated matter-of-factly.  
  
"Yeah, your right, okay then, lets do it." The two saiyans jumped down the entrance and into the ship as they made their way to the other end to confront the monster and it's master.  
  
  
  
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From their positions in the distance, Trunks, Goten, Krillin, and Piccolo could only watch in horror, as they were helpless to do anything to assist the Supreme Kai. As Buu continued his merciless assault on the defenseless victim at his feet, Babidi stood to the side and laughed joyously while the kai withered in pain and agony before him.  
  
"What are we doing just sitting here? We have to help him."  
  
"Yeah, we can't let that mean bully keep hurting Mr. Shin."  
  
"Trunks, Goten, settle down. There's nothing we can do right now and you know it." Piccolo replied as he tried to calm to two near hysterical children.  
  
"We can still try." Goten softly wailed. Piccolo knew he had to calm them down. If they tried to help, he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop them. As Buu continued to sit on Shin, Babidi bent down closer to him. "So, how do you like it Supreme Kai? How do you like being on the receiving end of such a beating?" "Shin simply responded by spitting a combination of blood and saliva in his face, anguish covering his face as his body was slowly being destroyed from the inside by the weight of Buu's mass.  
  
"Yuck!" Babidi screeched, as he wiped the spit off his face. "HOW DARE YOU." Kicking a pile of sand in his face, Babidi paused for a moment to compose himself before continuing. An evil smile plastered on his face. "Buu my pet, I do believe that the Kai has outlived his welcome. You may destroy him at will." Nodding his head in recognition, Majin Buu continued to jump on the suffering kai. As Shin cried out once more in pain for all to hear, Trunks and Goten made up their minds.  
  
"That's it! I can't take anymore. Goten, you with me?"  
  
"You bet." With anger and determination, the two youngsters powered up into super saiyans, and were about to take off despite protest from Krillin and Piccolo when suddenly, the door to Babidi's spaceship exploded, sending dust and debris for hundreds of feet, across the plains and into the air. The four Z-senshi stared in a mixture of surprise and curiosity.  
  
"AHHHH!!!! MY SPACESHIP! WHAT HAPPENED?!?!" the wicked wizard yelled, his voice a mixture of fear, anger, and surprise. Buu looked up in response to his master's tone of voice while Shin managed to look up as well. Everyone watched, as the silhouettes of two figures made their way from what was left of the ship, growing larger and larger, until the familiar figures of Goku and Vegeta emerged from the now settling sand.  
  
"DAD!"  
  
"DADDY!"  
  
"Goku, Vegeta."  
  
"ALRIGHT! THEY MADE IT"  
  
Unable to stay in place any longer, Trunks and Goten took of towards their fathers with Piccolo and Krillin in tow trying to catch them.  
  
Stepping out onto the surface, the two saiyans paused to take in their surroundings before focusing their attention to the pint sized wizard who was know beside himself with anger. "You, you blew up my ship! You idiots!" As Babidi proceeded with his tirade, Goku and Vegeta looked at one another and smirked at the display that was being put on before them, but then became serious as they turned to look at Buu, who by now had stood up, releasing Shin from the pressure that had previously been upon him. Wasting no time, both warriors dropped into fighting stances and prepared to put an end to Earth's threat, but before they could engage in battle, they were caught off guard as Trunks and Goten came up from behind and wrapped their arms around their respective parent's leg with Piccolo and Krillin landing soon after.  
  
"Goten? What are you doing here?"  
  
"Brat! What are you doing here?! And get off my leg!" Looking up, Goku notice Piccolo and Krillin behind them.  
  
"Hey! You guys are alright!"  
  
"Yeah, sorry Goku, we tried to hold them back, but it was no use. They were too strong." Krillin apologized.  
  
"That's alright," he replied before looking down at the two young demi- saiyans a small smile upon his lips. "Goten, Trunks, I want you two to leave with Krillin and Piccolo now and go back to the others okay? Vegita and I have to take care of this ourselves."  
  
"What!?" They both chorused, gripping tighter on their dad's legs. Goku's smile turned to a frown.  
  
"I said you have to leave."  
  
"Why can't we stay?" Trunks asked.  
  
"Yeah, we can help." Goten added cheerfully. Seeing as how the two young bundles of energy wouldn't give up anytime soon, Goku looked at Vegeta, signaling with his eyes what had to be done. Affirming Goku's decision, the two of them raised their hand, and faster then the two youngsters could react, delivered a light chop to the side of their necks, immediately knocking them out cold. Picking them both up, Goku handed the two of them to Piccolo who gathered one under each arm.  
  
"Take care of Trunks and my son Piccolo. Take them, get the others from the stadium, and then go to the Dende's lookout tower until this is finished."  
  
"Don't worry guys, they'll both be fine, you two just worry about THAT." Krillin spoke as he pointed to where Buu now stood. A look of puzzlement on his face at what was happening.  
  
"Speaking of your son," Piccolo asked. "Where's Gohan? I can't sense his ki anywhere.  
  
"What!?" Goku and Krillin both exclaimed, in surprise and slight worry.  
  
"What do you mean you can't sense his energy?" Goku continued. "It has to be SOMEWHERE?" Vegeta, whose attention was also caught by this development, immediately spread his ki senses out, within seconds covering the globe, the results were unnerving.  
  
"Kakarrot!" Vegeta firmly shouted, drawing the taller Saiyan's attention. "He's right… I can't sense the boy's energy anywhere on the planet." Staring in disbelief at what he just heard, Goku turned to Babidi who had finally managed to control himself.  
  
"BABIDI. WHERE'S GOHAN?!" yelled Goku, anger clearly evident in his voice. The others turned to face him as well, wanting just as badly to know the answer to the question just asked.  
  
"Where is who?" Babidi asked.  
  
"I said…" Goku repeated "Where is my son?" The venom and clear promise of death to whoever responsible, was so clear in his words that even Vegeta was taken aback by the way Goku was suddenly acting. Piccolo and Krillin just stood in fear as their friend Goku, the kindest, and gentlest person they knew, turned into someone who looked ready to kill without a second thought.  
  
"Your son?" Babidi said, as he tried to figure out whom Goku was talking about. Suddenly, it clicked, and Babidi smiled in maliciousness as he realized EXACTLY who he was talking about. "Ah yes, now I remember. That foolish boy in the black suit right?" Goku nodded, never taking his eyes off Babidi. "Heheh, well, I could tell you the whole story, but lets just say that in the end…Buu made him go boom!" The evil little magician wildly exclaimed.  
  
As the words sunk in, time seemed to freeze, Gohan, his son, the boy… no, young man…who in his absence had become Earth's savior and protector, one of his most precious and cherished gifts… was gone. Goku stared at the ground in silence, as if trying to think of a way as to how he could make it go away, to deny the truth and show that his son was not gone, but the facts made themselves known; Gohan was out of practice, he went head to head by himself with an enemy of unknown power, and now, his ki signature was none existent, the truth was crystal clear…Gohan was dead.  
  
Piccolo bowed his head in silence, as the child, his first and only student…and his first and only friend, was proclaimed dead. He remained silent, but still held his monotonic outlook. Krillin dropped to his knees as news of his best friend, next to Goku, who he had shared so many adventures with, whom he would share no more such adventures with, was gone. Even Vegeta seemed disheartened by the news. He had no feelings as strong as the present company, but even he had started to warm up to boy, even though he would never admit it, he welcomed the youth's strength, heart, and abilities as a warrior, and he was saiyan after all, even if it only consisted of half his being. He had witnessed the death of nearly his entire race. The pain of such a loss refused to diminish with the loss of even a single other saiyan life. While Babidi continued to laugh, as if mocking his misfortune, the three of them stood as they watched Goku's shoulders slump, before abruptly tensing just as fast, what happened next would silence the tiny terror forever.  
  
Faster then anybody could react, the bright flickering of energy surrounding Goku's body became an inferno of power, engulfing him it's light. Extending his arm forward, he fired an energy beam directly towards Babidi who in his surprise was unable to erect an energy shield around him. The effect was instant. Tearing through his weak body without restraint, the force of Goku's beam destroyed Babidi's carcass limb by limb, disintegrating the very atoms of every cell in existence. When the light had faded and everyone could see, what they saw was Goku, still with his arm outstretched, only now his golden hair had grown and fallen down passed his waist and to the back of his legs, just above the knees. Dropping his hand and turning back to his three friends, they saw where two solitary tears had carved a trail down his cheeks, but due to the heat from his ki, were already drying, his face set in a mask of rage while maintaining his now dangerous voice. "Leave."  
  
"Goku?" Krillin hesitantly ventured to ask.  
  
"I SAID LEAVE!!" Krillin jumped back in fear at the harshness in his words. Piccolo opened his eyes, surprised as well by what had become of Goku. Vegita was amazed at how much Goku was acting in his opinion, like a true saiyan, although his wished the circumstances could have been a bit more pleasant. Seeing their reactions, Goku calmed down, but his voice didn't loose its demeanor. "Get out of here, take the kids…" He flew, faster then the human eye could see, past Buu, grabbed Shin who was now unconscious, and flew back to his original spot. "…And the Supreme Kai, with you, and do as I told you." Doing as they were told, Krillin took Shin from Goku and stepped back beside to Piccolo before the two of them took off back towards the stadium to get the others. After they disappeared from view, Goku turned back to Vegeta who, for the moment, ignoring the fact that Goku had just reached ANOTHER new level of Super Saiyan, shared a look that said it was time to do what they come here to do. The last two pure-blooded fighters of a proud, fierce, and all but dead race, side by side, shoulder to shoulder, dropped into their individual fighting stances, locked gazes with the mighty monster known as Majin Buu who, finally realizing what had happened to it's master, dropped into it's own unique stance, prepared to fight. Today a life of value to both Goku AND Vegeta was lost. The only consolation was that he had died a warrior's death…in the heat of battle. The look on both fighters' faces told that one way or another, this threat would not take another. Unleashing a battle cry almost animalistic in nature, they both charged the destructive creature who in turn ran to meet them halfway.  
  
  
  
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After flying full speed for close to 15 minutes, Piccolo and Krillin reached the stadium, or what was left of it. Upon entering, they found the others including Videl who returned after leaving Gohan and Kibito, in the top row of the stadium. They all came running up to meet them, and as Krillin filled them in on the situation with Goku, Vegita, and Buu, Piccolo contacted Dende telepathically. 'Dende.'  
  
'Hello Piccolo, I saw what had happened. I believe you need a lift?'  
  
'Yes.'  
  
'Alright, hold on." After cutting the link, Dende teleported Piccolo, Krillin, Goten, Trunks, Bulma, Chi-Chi, Master Roshi, Oolong, Puar, Yamcha, Ox-King, Marron, and 18 to the lookout tower where he and Mr. Popo both greeted them with sad smiles.  
  
"Hello everyone, I'm pleased to see you all again, I just the wish circumstances were better.  
  
"I know." Agreed Krillin. "Unfortunately its rarely the case." Dende's nodded in agreement. "Mr. Popo, could you please take our three unconscious friends to a room and tend to them please?  
  
"Of course Dende," The gentle genie replied. With that done Dende turned his attention to Videl who finally realizing that she was in the presence of a god, just stood there motionless, eyes wide open as he walked up to her and began to speak.  
  
"You're a new face. You must be Gohan's girlfriend Videl. He's told me a great deal about you." Hearing her name and the word girlfriend in the same sentence, Videl finally snapped back to reality.  
  
"What!? Oh no, I'm not his girlfriend." 'Yet.' "Huh? Where did that come from?" she silently said to herself.  
  
"You say something?"  
  
"Huh? Oh no, I just said that Gohan's my friend, and that he's training me."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry I guess I just got the wrong impression." At the mentioned of Gohan's name, both Piccolo and Krillin flinched. Chi-Chi, who noticed this, took Goten and Trunks from Piccolo and handed Trunks to Bulma. "Where IS Gohan? He wasn't with you two, and Krillin, you didn't mention him being with Goku and Vegeta, so where is he? By now, everyone else had gathered around to hear the answer as well.  
  
"Well? We're waiting? Chi-Chi said, while tapping her foot impatiently. They both looked at one another before Krillin took the initiative and stepped forward to deliver the bad news.  
  
"Well, Chi-Chi, guys, I don't know exactly how to tell you this, but…"  
  
"Yes…?" Krillin gulped.  
  
"Gohan is…well, Gohan is…"  
  
"Gohan is dead." Piccolo bluntly stated.  
  
'Oh smooth, real smooth Piccolo' Krillin sarcastically thought to himself. Six voices chorused in response.  
  
"WHAT!?!?"  
  
"He was killed while fighting Majin Buu." After speaking, Piccolo began to walk away to meditate somewhere in private, no one saw the two lone beads of moisture form in the outer corner of his eyes as he exited. As he left, the news finally struck home. Chi-Chi was naturally, the first to react. Falling to her hands and knees, the floodgate burst and her tears began to flow unchecked from her eyes. "N-no…NOOOOOOOO!!!!! GOOHAAAAAAAANN." Bulma and the Ox-King fell to their knees next to her and pulled her into a hug as they to, began to cry. "Please, no…not my little boy." Yamcha, Oolong, and Puar, suddenly unable to stand, sat down as the truth took its toll. Krillin walk over to his wife and helped her as she tried to comfort little Marron as she sobbed into her mother's shoulder, tears once again forming in his eyes as well. Dende took this as his cue to leave, so that Gohan's family and friends could mourn, and so that he could, in private, mourn the loss of his best friend as well.  
  
Videl just stood, rooted to the spot where she stood. Her brain refusing to acknowledge what was just said. The world appeared to fade to black, as the floor beneath seemed to drop out from under her feet. Her mind began to spin out of control as she thought of him and all he had done for her in such a short time, and all he had come to mean to her as a result. Gohan was the first guy to ever treat her like she was more then just some celebrity, like she was a real person. He was always nice, even in the beginning when she treated him so poorly. In the short time that she had known him, he become so much; a friend, partner in crime, personal confidant…he even taught me how to fly. At first she like training with him because he helped her improve so much, but then, later on she realized, she didn't just miss training with him, she missed him period, she missed Gohan. She missed the way he always seemed to be able to say the right thing to cheer her up or brighten a dark day. The way his innocence just seemed to shine through those stormy black eyes of his. Then, it all made sense. It was so complex, yet at the same time, so simple. She missed him, she missed him because she like him…she liked being with him, and she liked being with him because… 'I love him…the first guy I actually fall in love with, and I was too blind to see it.' Then, the words she had just heard prior to this revelation hit her like a train. Gohan…the one she loved…was gone. The tears had already started, but now that she realized how she felt about Gohan, and what had just happened to him, Videl fall collapsed to the floor and curled into a fetal position, all the while crying out in pain and sorrow as the love she just discovered for Gohan, was dashed apart, while clutching her heart which at the moment felt as if it would shatter like fine crystal. "Gohan…" she softly sobbed. "…Please come back" 'I love you.'  
  
  
  
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The fight was NOT going as planned. Both of them had been going at it with Buu for almost 45 minutes. In that time, Goku and Vegeta had used almost everything in their arsenal, but while they were now laying side by side, no doubt bleeding internally as well as externally, barely alive, Buu on the other hand, looked as if he hadn't even been hit once. Somehow, his body absorbed all of their physical attacks, and when they tried using ki beams, his body would simply regenerate. There was apparently no way to beat this thing. Now, as the two of them looked up from the ground at what seemed to be they're end. Even Goku's new power wasn't enough to stop this newest threat. They had failed, and because of it, the Earth was now doomed. As Buu stomped his way towards the two helpless warriors, Goku and Vegeta turned to face one another.  
  
"I guess this is the end," Goku exclaimed, defeat laced in his voice. "At least now we'll be with Gohan again."  
  
"He died the death of a saiyan Kakarrot," Vegeta replied with the same defeat, yet within it, a hint of pride. "He died fighting, now it's our turn."  
  
"Sorry we didn't get to finish that fight we started earlier."  
  
"You don't think your getting out of it THAT easy do you? Vegeta lightly chuckled. " I don't care if I have to fight my way out of HFIL… we WILL finish our fight." Goku smirked at this.  
  
"I look forward to it." Vegeta nodded, and as there vision started to slightly blur in and out of focus, they watched, as they're soon to be executioner now stood in front of them. Refusing to shut their eyes, the two of them watch as he raised his foot and prepared to bring it down on their heads… it never came. Just as Buu's foot started to come down, two dark figures dashed up from behind, knocking Buu back across the clearing almost 200 yards away. With their vision too poor to see clearly, they could only make out the outline of the two figures that had just saved them, and barely felt anything when they picked them up, each figure taking one warrior. Then, in a swirl of dark light the two figures vanished.  
  
  
  
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Up on Dende's lookout tower, while everyone had finally managed to stop crying, they continued to silently grieve. Goku had said that they were to stay put until this was all over. Now it was just a matter of waiting until something happened. Everyone had their own thoughts to keep themselves occupied. Most of them had to do with how Goku and Vegeta were fairing against Buu. Everyone's thoughts were interrupted however, when out of nowhere, two complete strangers, dressed solely in black, with a cloak and hood over their heads, appeared on the lookout floor, carrying the limp and beaten bodies of Goku and Vegeta. The whole group, which now consisted of both Trunks and Goten, both filled in on the recent events, along with Shin, who had awaken earlier stared in silent horror at the site that greeted them. The two strangers could have passed for twins, except that one of them, the one carrying Vegeta, appeared to be a few inches taller. He was the first to speak. His voice remained calm and restrained.  
  
"We need help." Not knowing what to expect, Krillin yelled for Dende while Yamcha, Eighteen, Goten, Trunks, Shin, and himself dropped into defensive positions while the others, gathered behind them for protection from these two mysterious visitors whom have yet to prove hostile, but don't appear to be very friendly ether. Piccolo and Dende joined them minutes later. Piccolo fell into a fighting stance and stood next to the others, ready to fight should it be necessary, while Dende cautiously made his way towards his two new guests, and his two fallen friends. Sensing the hostility and uneasiness in the air the two strangers looked at one another for a minute, before carefully setting Goku and Vegeta down, and slowly backing away from them about six feet. Taking this as a sign of good will, everybody dropped their fighting stances and joined Dende as he made his way towards their fallen comrades.  
  
Working quickly, Dende placed his hands over Goku and Vegeta, and using his powers, healed both fighters of all their wounds before backing away to give them space. Opening their eyes, Goku and Vegeta sat up and looked themselves over before taking in their surroundings, and staring in confusion. Looking to the side they met the gaze of their family and friends, all looking at them as if they had been gone for years. Goku broke the ice. "Uh…hi?" That was all Goku had a chance to say before Vegeta and himself were mobbed in hugs by their respective friends and family, Piccolo, Dende, 18, and Shin just stood behind the crowd, not being the kind to show much outward emotion, at least in public, they simply stayed back and watched the happy reunion with a small smile of their own. After they had settled down, Goku and Vegeta moved themselves from the mob and stood in front of them.  
  
"What happened? How did we get here?" Vegeta questioned.  
  
"Yeah, last I remember was Buu's boot coming down to meet my face." Goku added.  
  
"I believe I can answer that question." Everyone turned their attention to the two dark figures that once again made themselves known. Vegeta immediately went on the defensive.  
  
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" The two new arrivals took a few steps closer. Goku immediately dropped into his fighting stance next to Vegeta.  
  
"He said…who are you?" At this point, Chi-Chi and Bulma stepped between their husbands and the two new visitors.  
  
"These two…" Bulma started, pointing at the two dark figures, "…are the ones that saved your lives. From what I heard, they saved you two from Buu, and brought you here for Dende to heal you." Hearing this Goku dropped his fighting stance, and with a little prodding, got Vegeta to do the same. Taking this moment to look them over, it appeared that their guests were dressed in a full black spandex body suit, along with what they had come to known, as saiyan armor. It was the same as what Vegeta had worn during the cell games, everything, boots, gloves, chest plate, the works…only thing, was that the whole outfit was black, except for what appeared to be a brown belt around their waste. It was almost completely hidden though by the black, hooded cloak that they each wore. It fell down just past their knees, and the hood on top covered all but the lower part of their face, which consisted of the nose and lips. Bulma turned to face the two of them.  
  
"It might help ease the tension though, if you told us who you are."  
  
"Very well then." The taller one of the two, nodded to his partner before removing his hood. With his hood down everyone could make out the coarse ink black hair that, while spike out, still fell slightly backwards down his neck. His strong, lean face portrayed that of a 19, maybe 20 year old boy, but to even the most inexperienced person, one could tell by looking into those pitch black eyes, eyes that seemed to search your very soul for the meaning of your existence, that he had seen more life then anyone would think possible.  
  
"Greetings, my name is Shadow." Nodding in approval, everyone turned to his partner who had yet to remove his hood. Tilting his head to his partner in a questioning manner, Shadow nodded, and the second member of the dark duo reached up to remove his hood. Everyone leaned in to see whom this last stranger was, but they weren't prepared for the face that was under the hood, dropping his hood, Chi-Chi fainted dead away and was barely caught in time by Goku who, along with every body else present, stared slack jawed, and at a lost for words at the identity of this mysterious stranger; for there, right in front of their eyes…was Gohan.  
  
  
  
End chapter 1  
  
  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
"Well, that's it, chapter 1 is done. I didn't expect it to be this long, but I wanted to make sure I set a solid foundation for this story before I proceeded. For this reason I made this chapter as long as I did, but don't expect all my chapters to be this long, some may not even be HALF this long, but simply some thing to move the story along. I don't know how long the next chapter will be, when it will be done, or what I'll completely put in it. I will work on it during the weekdays, weekends I have reserved for the sequel to my Tenchi Muyo story Rainy Day Lover, check it out if you're a Tenchi fan. I f you like my writing style on this story, I'm sure you'll like R.D.L. Getting back to the story at hand though, I WILL tell you that while I fully intend on completing this story, the pace that I update at will be solely up to you the readers. The more people who review…the faster I'll write. So, if you have a friend or friends who haven't read this story yet, tell them about it, and tell them to review. Like I mentioned in the Introduction: reviews are the lifeblood of EVERY fanfiction author. It is what encourages us to continue writing. If you like a story, give it a review. Even if it's only a few words, it could mean the work to that author, so R&R everyone. All comments, compliments, and constructive criticism is welcomed, however, all flames we banished forever into the deepest, darkest corner of Oblivion that exists."  
  
"Well, that's it for now. Until the chapter 2 comes out, RR&E (read, review, and enjoy)." Shadow steps back into the portal behind him, and the energy from the gateway begins to swirl closer and closer together, until it closes completely, leaving no trace of it ever existing. 


	3. Chapter II: The Return of Gohan

Love and War  
  
Chapter 2 of ?  
  
  
  
Once again, Oblivion's portal opens in a mass of swirling black energy as Shadow steps out to address his fellow authors and readers. "Hello once more my fellow DBZ fans. Judging from the response that my first chapter brought, I take it that you like my story up to this point. I apologize for taking so long to update, but with my job and the sleep needed to fulfill it every day, I don't have much time to contribute to my stories. I'm not the fastest writer ether, so that contributes to the holdup in my updates. As for those of you who thought that the surprise I exposed in this chapter was big, in addition to the cliffhanger…heh…believe me, this is merely the TIP of the iceberg, (an iceberg big enough to sink Alaska should such a chunk of ice be dropped on it) I have MANY more surprises planned before this story is over, and for those of you who love them AND hate them…many more cliffhangers. I must leave now to attend to other matters, but I will return before the chapter is done to give you my final thoughts." Shadow steps back through the gateway and out of existence as the portal closes behind him.  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I herby declare that I DO NOT own any of the characters presented in this story. They are the sole property of their rightful owners. I do however own the plot for this story. I do this for no financial gain whatsoever. I do this for the sole purpose to entertain you, and myself.  
  
  
  
"talking"  
  
'thinking'  
  
  
  
  
  
"What's wrong?" Gohan asked innocently. "You look like you saw a ghost." Goten was the first to react. He launched himself at Gohan, latching his arms around his brother's neck and holding on for dear life.  
  
"GOHAN! YOUR ALIVE!" Prying the overjoyed sibling off his neck, he propped him on his right shoulder.  
  
"Well, why wouldn't I be squirt?" Gohan questioned his brother, who had now wrapped his arms around the top of his big brother's head like it was a teddy bear. Snapping out of their shocked states, Goku and Chi-Chi were the next to approach him.  
  
"G-Gohan…?" Chi-Chi cautiously asked, not daring to hope, for fear it might be a dream.  
  
"Is that really you son?" Goku asked, still in disbelief that his son was standing right in front of him and not in Otherworld.  
  
"Course it is dad. Who else could it be?" Gohan replied, flashing his dad's trademark smile, which sealed the deal. Only two people could pull of the Son smile other then Goku, and they were his two sons, both parents then ran up to Gohan and embraced them as hard as they could. Chi-Chi wrapped her arms around his waist as she buried her head into his chest and closed her eyes as she cried tears of joy. Gohan wrapped his arms around his mother before Goku wrapped him up in a hug, effectively pinning the upper part of his arms to his sides, as he to, let a few tears of happiness roll down his cheeks. Following their lead, the rest of the Z-fighters, minus Vegeta, 18, Shin, and Piccolo ran up and hugged Gohan where they could, cheering in glee that their friend was back, safe and sound. "Uh guys, not that I don't like the affection, but what's wrong? Your all acting as if I just came back from the dead.  
  
"We thought you WERE dead." Krillin answered as he pulled away from his friend, and partner in more fights then he could remember.  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Yeah, Babidi told us that you died fighting Buu." Goku answered as he pulled away as well. After a couple minutes, everyone else disentangled themselves Gohan as well.  
  
"We couldn't detect your energy signature anywhere on the planet ether." Piccolo, who had remained quiet, stated as he stepped forward to join the group.  
  
"Where the hell were you boy?" Vegeta demanded, stepping forward as well. Gohan was about to answer, when he finally took notice of Videl who was standing off to the side just staring blankly at him. Setting Goten down, Gohan stepped pass his friends and family, and walked towards Videl till he was about three feet from her.  
  
"Videl?" She looked up to him, and continuing to stared at him blankly. "Hi?" Gohan watched as she stared at him for a few more moments before her body started to shiver ever so slightly. Gohan, who was starting to get a little worried, slowly leaned down till he was eye level with her. "Videl, you okay?" He noticed her eyes start to glimmer with unshed tears as her trembling became somewhat more violent, before he could ask again if she was all right, Videl flung herself at Gohan, wrapping her arms around his neck, and her legs around his waist while burying her head between his neck and shoulder as she started to cry, even harder Chi-Chi. Catching him off guard, Gohan instinctively wrapped his arms around Videl as he stumbled back a few paces before falling backwards from the momentum her jump caused. Landing on his back, Gohan just laid there in momentary shock at Videl's emotional outburst. When she lifted her head from his shoulder and looked him in the eyes, Gohan could see a mixture of emotions in her eyes; pain, joy, worry, relief…all rolled into one, then disappearing only to be replaced with pure happiness. Gohan opened his mouth to speak, but was immediately silenced as Videl pressed her lips to his, in a kiss that when she stopped a minute later, left him both speechless and breathless, him AND the entire crowd that had just witnessed what took place between the two teens. 'ha, I knew it' Dende smiled inwardly 'Then again I should, I AM god after all. Heh, just friends my foot.'  
  
Gently prying her off of himself, Gohan sat up so that she was now straddling his lap with her hands in his, and stared at Videl, who with her head down, was now beet red in the face as she realized what she just did. 'Oh my god, I can't believe I just did that! I wonder what he could possibly be thinking right now.' She looked up at Gohan, who appeared shocked for a second, before giving her a smile that seemed to make her melt from head to toe.  
  
"What I THINK, is that I would have done the same thing if I was in your place." Gohan softly spoke, before planting a brief, tender kiss on her lips before moving Videl enough so that he could stand up, and then pulling her up next to him.  
  
"How did you…? I didn't say any…, but you…" Videl stuttered. Gohan placed a finger to her lips stopping her before she said anything else.  
  
"Shhh…I'll explain later, but for now you just have to trust me, okay?" Videl nodded. "Good." Side by side, the two of them walked back to the rest of the group who had managed to somehow find their voices again.  
  
"What was THAT all about?" Bulma asked, full of curiosity.  
  
"You not telling us something son? Goku questioned as well.  
  
"Gohan you sly dog." Krillin snickered. "How long you been keeping your girlfriend a secret from us?"  
  
"WHAT?! You have a girlfriend and you didn't tell me, your own mother?!" Chi-Chi squealed. Gohan waved his arms in front of him in defense, sweat drops forming on the back of his head as he tried to fend off his interrogators.  
  
"N-no…it's not like that. Its not what you think." Gohan pleaded.  
  
"Oh really?" Krillin asked before pressing further. "Then what was with that kiss between the two of you just now hmm…..?"  
  
"Ah…well um, heheh…"Gohan nervously scratched the back of his head as he tried to find an explanation, fortunately he was saved by Shadow who decided to make his presence known once again.  
  
"Ahem." Everyone turned to face the mysterious stranger known as Shadow. His face remained stern, but his eyes held a tinge of amusement at Gohan's situation. It faded quickly though, and was replaced with a mask of indifference. "Unless you have forgotten Gohan, we have a situation that requires immediate attention," his voice, while not cold, held no warmth ether, more like one that a parent would use to tell a child his or her to do their chores. Gohan's face lost its happy innocence, and was replaced with seriousness, determination clear as glass reflected in his eyes.  
  
"No, I haven't forgotten about Buu. I will take care of him immediately." Gohan replied evenly.  
  
"Are you kidding?! That monster almost killed my son once, now you want to send him out there, by himself nonetheless, to fight him AGAIN?! I don't think so." Chi-Chi screeched. Everyone voiced their agreement as well while viciously nodding.  
  
"I agree completely." Shin said as he stepped forward and stopped in front of Shadow. "Buu is far to strong to fight one on one, especially when that one is Gohan. Even Vegeta and Goku with their new levels of power couldn't defeat him. What makes you think that Gohan is strong enough to fight Buu, let alone beat him."  
  
"Hello Shin, I figured you or one of the other kais would be here, and as for Gohan, I KNOW that he is strong enough to beat him, because I trained him myself."  
  
"That doesn't say much." Vegeta rudely remarked while interrupting. "We still don't know how strong YOU are or anything else except your name. How do we know that you're even stronger then Kakarrot or myself?"  
  
"Please forgive Vegeta's manners. He tends to act that way to almost everyone, but he does make a point. Who exactly are you, and how do you know who I am?" Shadow glared coldly at Vegeta's interruption before returning to Shin's question.  
  
"I am Shadow: Dark Night Warrior: level 7, current rank: Master Warrior. I am the guardian of Oblivion, and protector/overseer of dimensions. I took Gohan with me after his defeat against Buu. That is why you could not sense his presence, at the time he wasn't even in this dimension. He was with me training in my world, and because of my training, he is now a Dark Night Warrior as well, to be more specific Son Gohan: Dark Night Warrior: level 6, current rank: Jr. Master Warrior. Does that answer your question?" Shin, surprising everyone but Shadow and Gohan, back up and dropped to a knee and bowed his head.  
  
"I-I'm sorry, I had no idea who you were. Please forgive my actions."  
  
"There's nothing to forgive, please rise." Shin did as he was told. Goku came up next to Shin and addressed him.  
  
"Shin? Who is this, and what's a Dark Night Warrior? Shadow cut him off before Shin could respond.  
  
"I'm an ally, that's all you need to know for now. I promise that I will explain all of this later, but now we must deal with Majin Buu, and for that I'm sending Gohan, I trained him, and I trust him to finish this, and if you believe in him, you'll trust him as well."  
  
"I still don't know, with what happened last time…" Goku trailed off. Gohan stepped up to his dad and looked him straight in the eye.  
  
"Please dad, I know I can do this. I'm much stronger then I was last time, give me the chance to prove it." Gohan pleaded. If it was possible, Goku could have sworn that he saw fire dancing in his eyes as the thought of battle filled his mind. Goku gave his son a small smile as he made his decision.  
  
"Alright Gohan, you can go and fight Buu by yourself." Everyone was a little shocked at the fact that he would let his son go off alone against such a powerful enemy, especially when the only one that said he could be capable of doing such a thing was a complete stranger. Naturally, Chi-Chi was the first to express her concern in a calm collective tone…yeah right.  
  
"WHAT!? GOKU ARE YOU NUTS?! YOU'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO ALLOW THIS STRANGER TO SEND OUR SON TO HIS DEATH?! Goku took her hands in his and waited for his wife to calm down before speaking.  
  
"Chi-Chi, I'm not saying that I completely believe what Shadow is saying…but if Gohan says that he is stronger then before, I believe him, besides, it's not like he'll be completely alone. If he gets into trouble, I can use my Instant Transmission and transport Vegeta, Piccolo, Shin, and myself directly to him in time to help out." This seemed to have the desired effect, and seemed to breath a little easier. Gohan approached his mom as well.  
  
"You see mom? I'll be fine." Chi-Chi sighed before pulling him into a hug and closed her eyes as she laid her head against his chest.  
  
"I know, but I'm your mom, and it's my job to worry, but I trust you father's judgment, and if he trust you then so do I," she opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Just be careful, okay?" Gohan smiled down at her at kissed her forehead before letting her go and stepping next to Shadow who now held a pair of scouters in his hands, no one saw him pull them out, but right now nothing seemed to make sense, so they just took it in stride. He handed one of them to Gohan.  
  
"Here, we'll use these to keep in contact while you're in battle. I'll give you instructions as they are needed."  
  
"Right." Gohan attached the scouter to the side of his head and adjusted the tiny yellow mirror over his eye accordingly. Shadow took the remaining scouter and attached his as well. "Anything else?"  
  
"Yes. Its already apparent that level 3 isn't strong enough to beat this thing, so I want you to power up to level 4 right away, and if for some reason THAT isn't enough, take it up to 5 and finish it. I don't want to waste any more time then needed to beat Buu, we have bigger problems to worry about then Buu." Gohan nodded in acknowledgment. He then went about removing his caped hood, gloves, and the upper half of his suit, and balled them up in his hand before making them dissolve in a black flame.  
  
"Uh…Gohan, what are you doing?" Krillin questioned.  
  
"Well I didn't want them to get destroyed when I transform, so I simply put them away until I'm done. The rest of my suit will change with the transformation." Lucky for Videl, everyone was so distracted by what Gohan was doing, that they didn't see her face turn crimson as she stared at his now bare, and in her opinion, VERY well developed chest. She smacked herself slightly in order to get control again…and to stop herself from drooling. "I guess that's it. I'm out of here"  
  
"Be careful Gohan, come back safe." Chi-Chi said.  
  
"Don't worry mom, I will." Giving his family and friends one last smile he turned to Shadow. "Level 4 right?" Shadow nodded. Stepping back, Gohan glanced back once more at his family and friends. Then, waving his arm once in a circular motion, a portal opened in front of him, its dark ribbons of energy and light swirling together in a clockwise rotation. Ignoring the astonished faces of everyone except for Shadow, at his most recent new trick, Gohan disappeared into the portal. As soon as he was completely through, the portal grew smaller and smaller, closing upon itself until nothing remained.  
  
After Gohan left, Shadow called everyone's attention to him before turning away from them, and with an outstretched arm, summoned a type of theatre sized screen in front of them. The border appeared to be made of the same dark energy that surrounded the portal Gohan had left through earlier, undistracted by his actions, Vegeta started once more with the questions, questions that were also on the minds of almost everyone present.  
  
"Alright, I want some answers, and I want them now. One, were you talking about when you told Gohan to go to level 4 and 5? Two, how did Gohan create that portal out of nowhere, and three, what did he mean by 'when I transform'?" Vegeta indicated each question with a raised finger. Turning around, Shadow paused before answering, making sure that everyone was listening.  
  
"Okay, when I said 'level 4 or 5' I meant Super Saiyan level 4 and 5. The portal that Gohan created was a result of the training that he went through under my guidance, and the transformation that he mentioned was that of a saiyan into an oozaru." Vegeta couldn't believe what he was hearing, but before he could ask the next question, Goku beat him to it.  
  
"How is that possible though? I thought that the only way a saiyan could transform into an oozaru was with a tail." Shadow smirked slightly at Goku's question.  
  
"What do you think that brown strap was around his waist, a belt?" Now it was Goku's turn to be shocked. His son had his tail back, but how? Shadow was pulled out of his reverie when he felt a tugging on his pants. Looking down, his eyes made contact with Goten, who was trying to get his attention.  
  
"Why did you make that?" Goten asked innocently, pointing towards the screen behind Shadow. "Are we going to watch a movie?" Shadow chuckled slightly at his question.  
  
"In a way, with this, we will be able to watch, and keep tabs on your brother's fight with Buu, speaking of which…" Shadow looked back up to the others. "…Everyone, Gohan has arrived at the battlefield. If you will all gather round the screen, we can watch the fight, and for those of you who still doubt me, you can see Gohan's improvement for yourself." Everyone gathered around the screen. Chi-Chi, Bulma, and 18 sat down cross-legged with Goten, Trunks, and Marron on their laps. Goku stood behind Chi-Chi, Vegeta behind Bulma, and Krillin behind 18. Yamcha stood on the right, next to Krillin, Puar on his shoulder, and Oolong standing in front of them both. Videl stood on the left next to Goku, and Piccolo, being the tallest, stood behind Goku and Vegeta. Dende and Mr. Popo stood next to Yamcha, and Shin situated himself in the middle of the triangle that formed between Videl, Goku, and Chi-Chi. When it looked like everyone was in place, Shadow brought his left hand up, snapped his fingers, and the screen came to life. The scene that greeted them, consisted of Buu, still where they had left him. He seemed to be looking for something, possibly his master. It looked like he had finally given up and was preparing to fly off, but just before he did, the portal opened and Gohan stepped out.  
  
(A.N.: Just so that you have an idea of how they're seeing the fight, imagine yourself watching an episode of DBZ on your T.V. at home. The way you watch that episode is the same way they're seeing this fight. If you wish, you can try to picture it like so as well.)  
  
  
  
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Gohan stepped out of the portal. Sealing it up behind him, he turned to face Buu who was just starting to take off, but stopped when he arrived. Gohan looked across the clearing at Buu, the monster that nearly destroyed him once before, he had made a mistake in not training after the defeat of Cell, but fortunately that mistake had been rectified. Buu stared back questionably at the new face, Gohan on the other hand, glared back with a deep scowl, and eyes narrowed in aggravation, eyes that help so much hate and anger for the single being in front of him, that the picture of his face as a whole, would be enough to make Vegeta wet himself with fear. Buu however, being who he was, merely stared back in confusion.  
  
"Hello Buu." Gohan spoke in a monotonous voice.  
  
"Huh, Buu not you. How you know Buu? Buu questioned. Gohan's frown became a small smirk.  
  
"You don't remember me huh? Well…" Gohan spread his legs shoulder length apart, drew his hands into fists, and pulled them to his side as he slightly crouched down. Bowing his head for a moment in concentration, Gohan summoned his ki together, before shooting straight up, hands to his sides, and throwing his head skywards, all the while shouting as he powered up, going from his normal state, directly to level 2. Standing at ease once more, Gohan opened his now teal green eyes and looked back at Majin Buu. "…How about now?" Buu stared back at Gohan for a moment before he reacted.  
  
"Ah, Buu know you. Buu make you go boom." Gohan scowled a little in annoyance at how light Buu was taking this, but soon smiled once more.  
  
'Yeah, enjoy it while you can Buu. You won't be around much longer anyways.' "That's right Buu, only now I'm back, and I've got a little surprise for you." Focusing his energy once more, Gohan raised his power level. The aura of golden energy surrounding his body increased in proximity and intensity, by now all loose forms of debris in the immediate area began to ether combust, or dance wildly around his form. Releasing a scream that signaled his ascent to level 3, the dust faded to reveal Gohan, his golden hair had reached down past his waist and ended just above the ankles, and muscles of his body had slightly increased while becoming more condensed. As Buu continued to blankly stare and ponder what was happening, Gohan continued. Holding his hand out, palm up, a small white ball of energy the size of a marble, appeared a few inches above his palm.  
  
  
  
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Shadow turned his head from the screen to Chi-Chi and Bulma. "You may want to cover your children's eyes for this part of the process."  
  
"Why?" Bulma asked. Shadow was about to answer, but Vegeta did it for him.  
  
"If Gohan's doing what I think he's doing, then that ball of energy he's forming in his hand is artificial moonlight, it will give off light similar to that of a full moon Even though saiyans can't transform without their tails, they tend become extremely aggressive, like a wild animal."  
  
"What about you, and Goku? Your saiyans as well."  
  
"True, but we're also adults. We can keep our aggressions in check, so do as he says and cover their eyes until the light is gone." Without another word, Bulma and Chi-Chi both covered their son's eyes, much to the complaints of the two kids in question.  
  
  
  
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Slowly, the ball continued to grow in Gohan's hand until it was about the size of a baseball. Sparing a glance at Buu, Gohan aimed his gaze to the sky, pulled his arm back, and pitched the ball of light as hard as he could into the atmosphere. Traveling almost out of site, the mass of energy finally stopped. Hanging on to what appeared to be nothing for a few brief moments, the ball suddenly erupted into display of such brightness, that the heavens seemed to come alive with energy. Buu covered his eyes due to the intensity of the light, but Gohan just stood there and gazed into the light that lit the sky. The effects lasted only a couple minutes, but that was all Gohan needed. Gazing into the light, Gohan unwrapped his tail from around his waist, and began his transformation.  
  
As his body started to enlarge, and his teeth began to grow while his fangs extended, Gohan's nose and mouth grew outwards forming a snout. Next, Gohan's pupils began to diminish until they became solid white. While continuing to grow, bright golden hair began sprout out upon his entire body, covering all but his face, hands, and feet. Growing to large to be contain, Gohan's pants and boots split. After reaching half his full height, Gohan's eyes turn from a pure white, to a dark, crimson red, another minute and the transformation was complete. Gohan now stood over 5 stories tall, his hair from head to tail to toe completely golden, lips pulled back in a snarl, and blood red eyes that promised only death and destruction. Raising his fists into the air, Gohan threw his head back and bellowed a primal roar, followed by a massive pink energy beam that was released from his mouth and sent straight into the heavens.  
  
Buu's eyes widened in surprise and slight fear at the sudden appearance of this giant ape in front of him. Not knowing what to do, Buu actually seemed for a moment, to be worried, but Gohan wasn't through yet.  
  
'Come on Gohan, get a hold of yourself.' Gohan reprimanded himself. ' I need to focus.' Gaining control of this much powerful, primitive form was easier said then done, but once he did, Gohan concentrated, clearing his head of all though, Gohan slowly started to transform back to a human state of being. Crossing his arms in front of him, a yellow glow engulfed Gohan, making his oozaru form turn pure gold, erasing all detail except for the outline of his enormous body. The outline then slowly began to grow smaller and smaller, eventually taking the shape of Gohan's saiyan body, stopped when it reached his former size, except that it had grown a few inches. His size and overall body mass had increased yet a few more inches. The glowing golden aura around him turned a deep red, before fading to reveal a new Gohan. Dropping his arms slowly from in front of his face, Buu, as well as everyone at the tower took in the sight that was Gohan. Standing upright, Gohan's eyes, once black as night, but had now turned a mixture of red and brown stared straight through Buu. Red hair covered his arms, ending at the wrist, and at the bottom of his collarbone, the hair had completely covered his back, extending from the base of his neck, down to his waist, the hair circled his pecks, and the two upper sections of his abdomen, covering the third in hair, forming something similar to a three leaf clover, as well as the remainder of his stomach, his tail had also turned completely red. Somehow, a pair of black boots, tan gi pants, and matching navy blue sash and wrist pads had materialized on him during the transformation. Gohan's hair was once again black, but seemed different somehow, thicker, yet shinier as well. His hair was in the same style it had been in when the day started, but now extra hair had grown on the back of his head, hanging down just past his neck. The last change was the outer parts of his eyes, they were black rimmed, the same as when Vegeta had first fallen under Babidi's spell. This, in addition to the cold, hard smile that Gohan was giving Buu made him appear almost…evil. The scouter, which had disappeared during the transformation, was now once again over Gohan's left eye. Seeing this much less intimidating person in the place of the giant that had just been here, Buu seemed to relax, and once again reform to his evil, yet childhood nature. Gohan's smile turned to a scowl as he dropped back into his fighting stance. "Alright you big blob, round two." Gohan then flew straight at Buu.  
  
  
  
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Startled by what they had just seen Gohan turn into, the group hardly noticed as he engaged Buu once more. "W-w-what just happened?" Krillin finally asked.  
  
"Gohan just ascended to super saiyan level 4. That's what just happened," Shadow replied as if it was old news.  
  
"How can you say that as if it's nothing? My son just went a level higher then ME." Shadow simply smirked.  
  
"Compared to what he is now capable of achieving, level 4 IS nothing." The crowd was shocked into silence. Up until a few minutes ago, no one even knew level beyond 3 existed. Gohan had just surpassed that level, and now they were being told that there's more?  
  
"So my brother can get even STRONGER?" Goten questioned  
  
"Heh, turn to the screen again, and I'll show you." Everyone snapped their attention back to the display, waiting to see how Gohan could POSSIBLY become any stronger. Shadow looked towards the battle as well before clicking a button on the side of the scouter, signaling Gohan.  
  
  
  
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The fight had been going on for over 10 minutes. Gohan wasn't the tired in the least, but he was getting frustrated. Everything he did seem to have little or no effect on him. Every impact he made, Buu simply reformed, every blast he hit him with, Buu would regenerate. Gohan jumped back from the pink behemoth and started to think of what to try next, while waiting, his scouter came to life and Shadow's voice came over the earpiece.  
  
"Gohan." Keeping his eye on Buu, Gohan answered back.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"That was a nice show, but its time to wrap this up, take it to the next level and finish it. You know what to do." The scouter then went silent. Gohan smiled inwardly at his latest order. Gohan gave Buu an evil grin, showing off every sharp white tooth in his mouth, his eyes narrowed in eagerness and anticipation, Buu remained in his spot, waiting for the next attack.  
  
"Sorry Buu, but playtime is over. This ends now." Delivering his message, Gohan dropped into his crouching stance and began to power up once more, summoning the energy needed to take him to the next level.  
  
  
  
End Chapter 2  
  
  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
"There it is, chapter 2. Like it? Hate it? I know it's not as long as chapter 1, but I put what I wanted into it. Now, before I continue, like I said, I would address questions that you left in your reviews should I not have them answered in the chapter itself. They are:  
  
vsd2oc : 1) Gohan's family didn't even know that he was ALIVE, and he and Shadow had just arrived. 2) You'll see one of his new moves in the next chapter. 3)As you can clearly see in this chapter, this Gohan is the real deal.  
  
CrIpTiK : No, the S.S. in front of my name has NOTHING to do WHATSOEVER with NAZI. Unless you missed it in the Introduction, it means Super Saiyan Shadow.  
  
Angel Peace : As for your question, the secret is…there is no secret. If there is one thing I like to remember, it's that you only get what you give. You want the best from your story, you got to give it the best you've got. How far are you willing to go to give the story all you've got? How good do you want your story to be? Are you willing to put the time and effort needed to make it great, into creating it? Are you willing to take your time and develop the plot so that it's interesting? These are the types of questions you need to ask yourself every time you want to write a story. Discover the answer to these questions, and you'll discover my secret."  
  
  
  
"That's it for questions so far, back to the story. I hope that you enjoyed what I put into it so far, believe me, there's more to come I have the ending for the most part all planned out. Now it's just a matter of writing the in-between chapters, like what to write that'll keep your attention. I have some ideas in mind, but how and when to write them in the story is the question, ah well; I'll burn that bridge when I come to it. I will be starting chapter 3 as soon as possible, but if I don't get it up right away, don't loose faith. I WILL finish this, no matter how long it takes, but the more you review, the faster I update, and I'm sure you want to see level 5 right? Well then you'll have to review, RR&E everyone. Until chapter 3, I'm out of here." Shadow opens the gateway to Oblivion and disappears into it before the portal closes behind him. 


	4. Chapter III: Buu's Demise, and A LEVEL B...

Love and War  
  
Chapter 3 of ?  
  
  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I herby declare that I DO NOT own any of the characters presented in this story. They are the sole property of their rightful owners. I do however own the plot for this story. I do this for no financial gain whatsoever. I do this for the sole purpose to entertain you, and myself.  
  
  
  
"talking"  
  
'thinking'  
  
  
  
  
  
Closing his eyes in order to concentrate, Gohan began to power up once more. The Earth rattled under the pressure of Gohan's form as he proceeded to the next level. As the dust and debris around Gohan began to once again rise and swirl around him, his aura, previously white in appearance, began to turn golden once more, wiry bolts of white and blue electricity crackled around him, increasing in intensity as Gohan grew stronger. Pushing himself to the limit of his level 4 stage, Gohan paused a moment, gathered his strength, and with a quick, outward flash of light, pushed himself past his current state, and into level 5. Instantly, his hair turned bright gold, but now in addition to the hair on his head, all the coarse red hair on Gohan's upper body, including his tail, turned an equal shade of golden yellow. Though his body didn't seem to change, his power level soared. In the transformation from level 4 to 5, Gohan's power nearly doubled from what he achieved between his normal state, and level 4. Even after the power surge from his new level subsided, the raw energy emitting from Gohan's body continued to make the earth lightly tremble as it slightly fought to keep itself stable. This fact wasn't overlooked by the young warrior. 'Hmm, I was hoping the earth could hold together better then this under my power. I better end this now, otherwise I might destabilize the Earth's core.'  
  
Dropping into a relaxed, yet cautious stance, Gohan extended his right arm forward, palm facing outwards, as if to fire a ki blast, but instead, a black glow started to emit from around his hand. Starting out slowly at first, the pulse of dark energy radiating from his hand increased in speed and intensity, a ring of similar black light had now formed on the ground, surrounding Gohan in it's glowing cylinder of transparent light.  
  
  
  
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It didn't take much to surprise Chi-Chi and Bulma, they sat there dumbfounded when Gohan revealed his tail and turned into his oozaru form. Even the children were easily amazed as they watched their friend, or in Goten's case, brother, begin powering up. Videl was probably the first to show her shock, simply because she didn't know that this was actual pretty normal for them. Just when Videl thought she had figured Gohan out, he goes off and does something new. As for the rest of the Z-fighters…if they weren't convinced of his power before, they sure as heck believed him now. When Gohan had transformed into an oozaru, only Goku, Vegeta, and Piccolo were NOT affected by the site, They all had their own experiences with such a creature, so seeing one now didn't come as such a shock. Krillin though, shuddered at the site. He had to help Goku fight Vegeta when he first turned into an oozaru, and although that was a good many years ago, seeing one still gave him the creeps, the only consolation, was that this time, the huge mountain of raw power was fighting FOR them, and not AGAINST them. Just now though, when Gohan rose to level 5, there was no hiding the shock, and what could have possibly been described as fear from the three experienced warriors. Even Vegeta, who up to this point had remained still and at best maybe a little impressed with Gohan's new power, began to worry. In a single level, his power nearly doubled from what took him four levels to achieve, though he naturally wouldn't admit it, Vegeta was actually starting to fear what Gohan had become…a warrior with seemingly immeasurable power, fighting skills as sharp as a newly forged blade, and who appeared to be hiding even greater power, power which he appeared to be preparing to use at this time. Goku and Piccolo however, seemed to be the calmest of them all. While still surprised at the sudden increase in power, it was as if they were expecting it, but then again, when everything seemed to be lost, Gohan always did managed to surprise them with hidden strength that seemed to come from nowhere. Even as a small child, Gohan seemed to possess great power, and even greater potential. It was shown in his fights with Radditz, Garlic Jr., Freeza, and finally Cell. When the chips were down, and everything seemed lost, Gohan managed to somehow find the power to, if not win the day, then to allow someone else to do so, and now it was happening again. Over the years of peace, the power that Gohan seemed to possess when he fought Cell slowly appeared to die away, sure he was still strong, but nowhere near what he was at that one time, and now, when everyone though he was gone, like a phoenix reborn from the ashes of it's death, Gohan returned, and with the power of years past flowing through his veins, and fire of determination blazing in his eyes like a beacon in the cold dark night, stood before his home's latest threat, ready to defend the Earth, and everything that existed on it. While Piccolo looked on at Gohan and the battle he was fighting with a small smile and the pride of a teacher for his student, there were no words available to describe the pride that Goku felt for his son and what he had become. He always knew that Gohan could, and one day would, surpass him in strength and power, and that time was now. Like the others, Goku was curious as to what Gohan was doing now as well, but before he could ask, Goten once again beat them to the punch. "Mister Shadow sir, what's my brother doing?" Goten asked, pointing towards the screen. This drew everyone else's attention as well. Shadow held back a small chuckle at the way the young demi-saiyan addressed him.  
  
"First of all, just call me Shadow, and as for Gohan, well…do you like magic?"  
  
"Yeah!" Goten replied enthusiastically. Shadow slightly smirked at the child's reaction.  
  
"Well, that's what Gohan's doing, he's going to do a magic trick for us."  
  
"Wow."  
  
"Cool." Trunks added. Both kids turned back to the screen. Goku wasn't as easily satisfied though.  
  
"What kind of magic are you talking about? Is it the same type that Babidi used on us?" Shadow's face became serious again before answering Goku's question.  
  
"No, the magic that Gohan and I use is on a level far beyond anything that Babidi could begin to possibly comprehend. It is as ancient as time itself and is EXTREAMLY powerful, and because of its power, only Dark Knights are permitted to learn, and use such magic. Goku seemed satisfied with this answer.  
  
"Okay, but now that you mentioned it again, I still have no idea WHAT a Dark Knight is, and how did Gohan become one?" Shadow sighed at Goku's impatience with the topic.  
  
"I told you, I'll answer you questions AFTER Gohan takes care of the problem at hand, okay?" Goku nodded his head in agreement. "Good, then lets watch your son put an end to your current problem, then we'll talk." Turning back to face the screen, the gathered audience sat in silence as they awaited the outcome of the fight. A mixture of worries, nervousness, anticipation, and to some, even a remaining trace of fear, were apparent in their eyes.  
  
  
  
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Gohan stood in silence as he persistently summoned forth the power needed in order to cast the desired spell. As he continued to do so, the atmosphere around them began to change. The sky became pitch black for as far as the eye could see, and darkness seemed to descend across the land like a blanket of midnight. Oblivious to what was happening around him, Buu continued to aimlessly hop from one foot to another as he slowly began to approach Gohan who remained where he was, only now he had closed his eyes in order to finish preparing his attack. 'Come on, almost there, just a little more…a little more…done.' Gohan's body began to shimmer with dark energy, his aura turned from gold to black in an instant. Gohan's eyes snapped open, only now they had completely turned an onyx black, everything, the pupil, iris, and even the outer whiteness, they had become completely one shade of black. Using some form of psychic energy, Buu became confused as he was suddenly paralyzed, rooted to the spot he currently occupied roughly a hundred yards from Gohan. Looking at the young super saiyan in front of him, who at this moment seemed almost demonic in appearance, the villainous, pink powerhouse of untold evil, was reduced to a puddle of quivering gel in foreshadowed doom as he, for the first time in his life, felt something that beforehand had been completely unknown to him…fear.  
  
As the land around them began to shake, combust, or both, Gohan took a moment to gaze at the fear and unbridled terror now evident in Buu's eyes as he prepared for the grand finale. At this moment, while he held the life of this monster in the palm of his hand, Gohan was now more then a fighter, he had become judge, jury, and executioner, and for his crimes, Buu's sentence would be carried out. 'Your terror is at an end Buu, your through,' and with that thought, Gohan's voice echoed violently through the air as he launched his final attack. "HELLBOUND!!!!!!"  
  
For a moment, time seemed to dramatically pause in order to draw out the climatic event, but moment passed and Gohan's attack took affect. At first nothing happened, but then the sand began to sink into itself beneath Buu's feet and formed a funnel that began to vacuum anything in the immediate area into it. At the center of the apparent vortex centered directly under Buu, crimson red light blazed from the opening at the bottom as voices of the damned ringed out in countless numbers. Buu's body from the feet up seemed to dematerialized little by little and become sucked down into the center of the swirling sand that continued to disappear into the forbidden portal, bound for a destination of eternal pain that far exceeded anything that death could ever possible hope to offer. As cries of pain, torment, and anguish tore themselves from Buu's very soul, emanating from his mouth, begging for some sort of salvation from the punishment that somehow seemed destined, the only witness to his plight was the young warrior before him. Surrendering no emotion whatsoever, from ether his facial features, or his coal black eyes which no longer displayed so much as a glimmer of life in their seemingly endless depths, Gohan watched in grim silence, posture still remaining as it had from the beginning, as the swirling darkness of eternal damnation surrounding Buu pulled the screaming titan of terror into the darkness below, another addition to the already large collection of tortured souls, cursed for all time to never know peace from their crimes. Upon being completely absorbed into his new home below, the swirling motion of the funnel opening began to slow until it completely stopped, and then leveled off once more, as if the ground that just moments ago, provided a portal to eternal and unconditional suffering, had never been disturbed previously. Following the closing of the portal, the dark light engulfing Gohan disappeared, the darkness that had covered the sand and sky resided, and blackness in Gohan's eyes dissipated until they once again registered brownish red surrounded by wholesome whiteness.  
  
Relaxing once more, Gohan stood upright and let a small smile cross his face as he lazily dusted his hands off, like a kid who just finished cleaning his room or some other littered space. Placing his left hand on his hip, Gohan closed his eyes and bowed his head in amusement, as if he couldn't believe that what happened was so easy. Raising his right arm above his head, Gohan snapped his finger and the portal that he had summoned to bring him to the battlefield instantly flared to life behind him. Dropping his arms, Gohan raised his head and opened his eyes before turning around and stepping through portal and heading back to the tower.  
  
  
  
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Waving his hand once again, just as he summoned it, Shadow made the screen disappear from everyone's view, leaving the stunned, and slightly terrified audience to stare off into the distance until they finally gathered their wits. Finally, the silence was broken by two very enthusiastic demi-saiyans.  
  
"Holy cow! Did you see what Gohan just did? He was awesome." Yelled Trunks.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Goten. "That was the coolest magic trick I've ever seen!" The adults however didn't seem to share the same enthusiasm. Instead of their friend and savior destroying one of Earth's greatest threats, they saw what appeared to be a stranger. A stranger who, with the wave of a hand more or less, eliminated a creature so strong, that even the two strongest warriors on Earth, possibly in the universe, couldn't even scratch. What worried them wasn't the fact that he was strong, but that it was Gohan, and that he did it without blinking an eye, or without a single trace of emotion, how he seemed to, if even for a moment, take some sort of pleasure in destroying Buu, and then when it was done, simply dusted himself off as if it was nothing, as if it was a waste of time. While everyone else looked at each other, worry, a bit of fear, and even small measure of concern in their gazes, Goku, Vegeta, and Piccolo shared a look between each other, stern faces and steel eyes all reaching the same decision, something serious had happened to Gohan while he was gone, and they had to know what it was. Turning their gaze towards Shadow, who had yet to say anything since the end of the fight, the trio decided that it was time for some answers, and they were going to get them, one way or another. Sensing their eyes upon him, Shadow directed his attention to the three of them, and as if he reading their silent request, answered it with an agreeing nod of his head. They wanted to know what happened to their friend, and Shadow decided as well that it was time to tell them EXACTLY what happened. This was the scene that greeted Gohan as he arrived and stepped out of the portal, and onto the lookout's surface.  
  
First thing Gohan noticed as he stood before everyone, was the look of concern and indecision on their faces. Even Goten and Trunks, who moments ago couldn't stop, talking about Gohan, suddenly quieted as they suddenly saw the intimidating gold fighter stand before them. Puzzled by their reactions, Gohan spoke. "What's wrong?" Speaking through they minds, Shadow answered back. 'Don't worry; they're just a little taken back by your fight. They'll be fine once I explain everything, but It might help if you return to your normal state as well.' Looking at himself, Gohan almost smacked himself in stupidity. In all the excitement, he had forgotten to drop out of his super saiyan state. 'No wonder they're nervous, here I am looking like a relative of Bigfoot's and I'm wondering why they're shocked.' "Oops, heh, sorry." Concentrating for a moment, Gohan powered down to his normal form. His hair and eyes became black again, and the hair on his upper body seemed to retract back into his broad frame. Forming his cape and upper body armor in his hands, Gohan redressed and draped the hooded cape back over his shoulders before acknowledging everyone again. "There, is that better?" Gohan asked, flashing the Son grin for good measure. Seeing Gohan in a more recognizable and pleasant state, the tension in the crowd gradually lessened until it had disappeared completely. Goten and Trunks were once again the first to run up and greet Gohan. While Goten jumped into his arms and hug him tightly around his neck, Trunks went for a DIFFERENT place. Seeing his intentions, Goku and Vegeta quickly tried to yell out for Trunks to stop but it was too late, before they could stop him, Trunks latched onto Gohan's tail, which he had forgotten to rewrap around his torso for protection. Everyone knew the sensitivity of a saiyan's tail and cringed at the expected outcome, but what happened instead added yet ANOTHER surprise to the list.  
  
Instead of crying out in pain and lashing out at Trunks, Gohan playfully swung the laughing child back and forth before snapping his tail upwards, and launching Trunks into the air a few feet before catching him in his left arm as gravity did it's job and brought Trunks back down.  
  
"Heheh, that was fun." Trunks giggled. Goten mock pouted as he stared at Gohan with puppy dog eyes.  
  
"Hey, I want a turn too. Trunks had one. Please big brother." Goten begged. Gohan chuckled at Goten's face before holding his tail up for him to grab. Latching onto it as hard as he could, Goten's face broke out into a full scale grin, and started to laugh wildly as Gohan twirled him in zigzags and a couple of figure eights before tossing him up as well, catching him in his right arm.  
  
Among the entire group, Goku and Vegeta were clearly the most surprised. A saiyan's tail is without a doubt the source of their greatest power, but could also be their down fall if grabbed due to it's sensitivity, and here Gohan not only had his tail back, but was swinging Trunks and Goten around as if it was some sort of rope. This just added to the list of questions that were on the minds of everyone present. They needed some answers, and they needed them NOW. As he walked back over to the group with Goten and Trunks now I step behind him, Gohan noticed they're questioning gazes, and after looking back over to Shadow once more, decided that it was time to finally explain what was going on. Now facing the group as a whole, Gohan was about to start attempting to answer their questions with Shadow as backup, when he noticed Videl. Somewhere between now, and the last time he saw her, Videl had apparently lost a few shades of color and was now looking a little pale. Thinking about it, Gohan suddenly realized that this all must be quite a load for her to so suddenly have thrust upon her. He had taught her about flying and how its done, but everything else; tails, magic, superhuman strength, giant apes, and the fact that this was all happening at once must have been quite a shock to the system for someone who hasn't dealt with this all their life. Walking slowly towards her, Gohan was surprised, and a little hurt when she hesitantly started to take a few steps back, and hurt even more when she notice the meager presents of fear in her eyes, fear of himself. "Videl?" he questioned softly. Hearing her name, Videl stopped in her tracks, but remained wary as Gohan moved to stand a mere two feet from her.  
  
"W-who are you? What are you?" she asked shakily. It crushed Gohan to hear the fear in her voice, and that HE was the cause of it made it even worse. Hanging his hand in sadness, Gohan decided that it was time for her to know the truth, the truth about him, about everything. He just wished that it were under better circumstances. Taking his right hand, Gohan gently lifted Videl's chin so that her clear sapphire blue eyes met his own pure black ones.  
  
"Videl. Do you trust me?" Gohan asked. Videl paused for a moment. Did she trust him? She thought she had him all figured out, but now this happens, and it's like he's a stranger all over again. Could she trust him? Looking into those pure, innocent, obsidian eyes of his, Videl hesitated only a moment to erase the fear in her own eyes before answering.  
  
"Yes. Yes I trust you Gohan." Seeing the fear vanish from her gaze, Gohan gave her a small smile before turning to Shadow.  
  
"Shadow, can you take care of things here? I'm sure everyone has their questions, but I think it's time I had a long overdue talk with Videl regarding certain things." Staring at the two of them, Shadow couldn't help see how well the two of them looked together. 'No wonder he likes her so much. She's a perfect match for him.' Smirking briefly at the thought, Shadow quickly replaced the smirk with a straight face. "Of course Gohan. Do what you have to do, just return to us as soon as you finish."  
  
"I will, and thank you." Turning back to Videl, Gohan smiled while extending his left arm and offered his hand to Videl. "Shall we?" Videl returned Gohan's smile with one of her own before nodding in silent agreement and took her hand into her right one. Carefully pulling her to his chest, Gohan enclosed his arms protectively around Videl as he powered up, extending he aura over both Videl and himself in order to block out the blustering wind. "Hold on tight, we'll be going pretty fast." Gohan softly ordered. Taking his advice, Videl wrapped her arms around Gohan's neck and relaxed into his protective embrace while closing her eyes in contentment at the feeling of his arms around her. Gohan paused a moment to savor the feeling of Videl in his arms, and then, sparing a parting glance to his friends and family, who by now all had ether amused or knowing expressions on their faces, blasted off into the sky towards some predetermined destination in order to talk with Videl.  
  
After watching then disappear into the distance, everyone who had not done so before, turned back towards Shadow who had been waiting patiently for them to begin with their questions. With their attention back on him, Shadow took the initiative. "All right, I'm sure you all have questions for me, so I guess it's time for me to provide some answers. Who's first?"  
  
"Wait a minute." Bulma interrupted. "I agree with Gohan's idea. I think a change of scenery is in order before we continue. Why don't we take this discussion to Capsule Corp. before we get too deep into it, cause I for one don't want to be sitting on top of some tower miles in the sky discussing ANYTHING. Besides, it'll give us all a chance to relax and discuss this in a relaxing atmosphere." Shadow pondered her request for a moment before answering. "Agreed. We will move this conversation to your home for the time being." Scanning Bulma's mind for a moment, Shadow opened another portal before everyone and stepped up to it. "This will take us directly to Capsule Corp. If you will all follow me, we can proceed." With that Shadow stepped through the doorway, and after a few minutes of deciding whether or not they should trust him, everyone eventually stepped through the portal to join Shadow on the other side.  
  
  
  
End Chapter 3  
  
  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
"Finally, Chapter 3 has been complete. It took me quite a while, but with my job, sleep, and only 4 or 5 hours in between, (more on my day off) I think I made pretty good time. All right, before anything else, I'll deal with all questions and comments made since my last chapter:  
  
Vsd2oc: 1) Yes, I plan to make Goku and Vegeta stronger, maybe Goten and Trunks as well, though I doubt I'll let any of them get past lv.4, I DO want Gohan and Shadow to be the main heroes here. As for the other Z- fighters…they were never any competition compared to saiyans to begin with, so while I may make them a little stronger, they'll be nowhere near what Gohan, Shadow, Goku, and Vegeta will be. I may be spoiling a future surprise, but Vegeta won't be the ONLY saiyan for a chance at redemption in this story. Heheh. 2) As for Videl's role in this story…she may not be a powerhouse character, but she'll have a decent part, this is after all, a Gohan/Videl story as far as couplings go. What she does throughout the story may not raise a lot of eyebrows, but what happens to her towards the end will be crucial to the salvation of the planet, and that's all I'll say PERIOD on the subject.  
  
Nihongo: nice question, I bet others are thinking the same. No, he did not raise two levels. If you remember at the beginning of the DBZ series, when Vegeta first arrived and transformed into an Oozaru, he didn't become a super saiyan, he simply became a STRONGER saiyan in his normal form. The strongest that a Saiyan could become, so, when Gohan transformed while he was in level 3, he just became as strong as physically possible in his level 3 stage.  
  
Vegeta Jr.: Maybe he could have, but being as strong as he was, if he was to use an energy blast strong enough to destroy him, Gohan more then likely would have wiped out the Earth as well.  
  
Rose Lily: How long does it take me to write a chapter? Well that depends on a few things, like how much time I have to contribute to this story, how tired I am when I have the time to spare, and whether or not I'm inspired to write at the time, and for that I need reviews.  
  
  
  
There, I hope that all your questions up to this point have been answered, and any new ones will be answered in the next chapter, but I'm afraid that the next chapter won't be up for awhile, for after this chapter, I will be postponing the production of Love and War for an unknown period of time, in which I plan on finishing my sequel to Rainy Day Lover (Tenchi Muyo). I need to finish it so that I can focus solely on Love and War. I'm unsure of how long it will take me to finish, but I promise I will as soon as possible, just don't lose faith for I will return. I would like to thank all of you who have already read and reviewed my story, and I hope that you continue to do so, and if you know someone who has yet to read my story, tell them about it, and if they refuse…threaten them with bodily harm…no, make that psychological harm, physical wounds eventually heal. I am keeping track of everyone who signed in before reviewing and have them on a list to contact them when I update. If you are not a member of FF.Net, but would like to join my list, write you e-mail address in your review. Well, I suppose that is all for now. Until I finish my sequel, this is S. S. Shadow, signing off (for now)." Summoning his portal, Shadow steps through, into the darkness, and out of our dimension. 


	5. Author's notes

Love and War  
  
Author's note  
  
Alright, first of all, I am greatly pleased with the results of the first few chapters of what I hope will be a very interesting (not too mention long) DBZ adventure. I know it has been a while since I last updated as some of you have reminded me, and for that I am sorry. I am currently in the process of completing what I hope will be the first of four sequels to a story that I currently have complete and posted. (Tenchi Muyo: Rainy Day Lover)  
  
I had hoped that I would have had the next chapter up by now, but unfortunately, with my sequel progressing at the rate it has, I have been forced to push my schedule back a little. Fear not though, for I have completed 80-85% of my sequel. With a little more time I hope to have my sequel compete for sure by the end of the month, after which I can refocus solely on the continuation, and eventually the completion of Love and War.  
  
I have made some changes to my author's page as of late. I have taken the liberty of listing all of my stories currently under construction, as well as a list of ideas yet to be put in writing as well as the series that they are for. Once you finish reading, take a look at the changes if you have a moment to spare. This will also help fans or simple browsers keep up to date on the progress of their favorite story(s).  
  
Well, I guess that's my latest update, if you can call it that. I hope that this has been helpful at least a little bit. I will continue to strive until my sequel is finished, and after I have completed it, I will do everything I can to update Love and War as soon, and as often as possible. I just hope that this drought in writing hasn't affected my ability to bring you exceptional DBZ entertainment. So, until then be patient, and I hope that you'll continue to read my stories, for I truly attempt to give you the best that I have to offer. That is why I take the amount of time that I do to complete each chapter.  
  
So until next time.this is S. S. Shadow.fading out. 


	6. Chapter IV: Memories of the Past

Love and War  
  
Chapter 4 of ?  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: I herby declare that I DO NOT own any of the characters presented in this story. They are the sole property of their rightful owners. I do however own the plot for this story. I do this for no financial gain whatsoever. I do this for the sole purpose to entertain you, and myself.  
  
"talking"  
  
'thinking'  
  
  
  
  
  
Blowing by the passing clouds as he made his way towards his destination, Videl safely wrapped in his arms, Gohan took the time he had as they flew to think about what he wanted to say, as well as HOW to say it. He knew how important it was to her to know the truth, and who was he to keep it from her? If he wanted Videl to trust him, then he would have to trust her. Trust her with the knowledge of who and what he is, knowledge that in the wrong hands could possibly destroy him. Looking down upon her calm face, eyes closed as she rested her head against his chest, Gohan knew the answer to his question before he even thought about it. He could trust her with anything. Relaxing in the aftermath of this new revelation, Gohan faced forward and closed his eyes while using his senses to guide him on the rest of his travel. Lowering the energy field around him slightly, Gohan sighed in calm content as he felt the cool wind whip across his face, the rush of the current as it passed over him making him feel light as a feather, and free as a bird, the problems of the world temporarily forgotten. As he opened his eyes, Gohan spied his destination in the distance and resealed the energy shield around him as he rocketed full force towards his chosen location, and upon arriving, gently began his decent to the land below.  
  
Touching down, Gohan lowered the ki shield that had previously been a protective barrier for Videl and himself, and though reluctant, released his hold on her. Feeling his secure arms release her from his embrace, Videl opened her eyes and looked up at Gohan questionably. In return Gohan smiled down at her before looking over her shoulder and at view behind her. "We're here," was his simple remark. Turning to see what he found so interesting, Videl was literally left speechless as the scene that greeted her left the young lady speechless.  
  
It was like something out of a fairy tale. As far as the naked eye could see, a field of green spread for miles around them, blanketed in certain spots with condense patches of beautiful wildflowers that grew unhindered with all the colors of the rainbow and then some. The contour of the land rose and fell, swirled and swayed as hills both large and small formed the outlook of the valley's landscape. Cutting across the land, a bubbling brook flowed freely and unchecked as it carved its way through this small part of nature's vast garden. Unlike the rivers or streams of the cities, the water was so clean that in addition to it's transparency, the glow of the sun's rays seem to give it an almost unreal sparkle, blinding in it's brilliance, and despite it being at least five to six feet deep, the bottom was displayed so well that if not for the ripples of the passing current, one might think that there was never any water at all. Turning to look behind her, she followed the current's trail upwards, her eyes eventually fell upon its source in the form of a pool no more then a quarter-mile from where they were currently situated. Noticing them for the first time, Videl gazed in quite awe at the small mountain chain that lined the land behind them. They were massive, easily six stories tall at their lowest and over twelve at their highest. The only thing more stunning then the mountains themselves, was the beautiful waterfall cascading liquid beauty down between two peaks, feeding the pool that she had previously been admiring. Unable to believe that such a place, practically perfect in every sense existed, Videl made a few complete turns in order to take everything in before she was snapped out of her reverie by Gohan's voice. "Like it?"  
  
"Like it, I love it." Videl replied as she spun around to face Gohan, her face radiated joy equal to that of a child seeing Santa for the first time, eyes bright and full of light while wearing a smile that threatened to split her face. He expressed a small smile of his own at her enthusiasm.  
  
"I thought you would. I liked to come here when I needed to think, or simply relax. It's quite and isolated, even my parents don't know about this place." The young saiyan's face became somber. "That's why I chose this location to talk to you, we won't be disturbed." Hearing the seriousness in his voice, Videl simply nodded in agreement. All the questions that she had been pondering up to this point were about to finally be answered.  
  
Sighing tiredly, he sat down upon the grass cross-legged and gestured for her to do the same. Complying, Videl made herself comfortable while sitting in front of Gohan, already knowing that this was going to take a while. "Well, I said that I was going to tell you everything, I just don't know where to start."  
  
"How about telling me what you are? You're obviously not human, at least not completely." Gohan nodded in agreement. 'Nice choice.'  
  
"Very well, I'll start with what I am and go from there." Reaching out he took Videl's hands in his. Gohan noticed her face become puzzled at this. "Relax, I'm going to tell you everything but I want to do it a different way then what you're expecting. It will make things easier on both of us."  
  
"Alright," Videl replied. "What do I do?"  
  
"First of all, I need you to close your eyes and clear your mind as if you were meditating." Once Gohan saw her form relax and her breathing slowed ever so slightly he continued. "Next, I need you to concentrate your thoughts on me and my voice, nothing else." While Videl did as told, Gohan sat back, and with a firm grip remaining on her hands, closed his eyes and began to center his thoughts as well. Soon a black aura appeared around his body. As if being channeled along his arms, the blanket of dark light traveled from the young man to surround his companion as well. Once complete, a thick pulsing layer of ebony power had formed around the two of them. "Now.open your eyes."  
  
Complying with his request, Videl opened her eyes, yet continued to see nothing but darkness. She was able to see her own form as clear as day, but as she looked around there was nothing to be seen, no left or right, no top nor bottom, it was as if she was floating in mid air, yet the presence of firm ground could be felt beneath her feet. This new sensation began to slightly unnerve Videl, but before she could voice her worry and confusion, Gohan appeared to materialize right before her very eyes. "G-Gohan?" Gohan smiled lightly as he raised a hand up to ease her discomfort.  
  
"It's alright, don't worry, it's really me."  
  
"Where are we? What happened to us?" Videl asked as her puzzlement grew. Folding his arms across his chest as he stood before her, Gohan began to explain.  
  
"First of all, what you are seeing now is not real, you and I are both projections of our minds, astral forms to be exact, mental images of our current physical selves. As for where we are, we're at what would best be described as the doorway to my mind."  
  
"But why."  
  
"Why am I doings this?" Gohan smirked as he had apparently guessed Videl's question before she had even asked it. "I've chosen to do this because I felt that perhaps by showing you instead just telling you, that you might be able to better understand everything. You wanted to know everything about me and my past didn't you? Well, I decided that it might be easier to 'show' you my past rather then just explaining it." Videl up to this point was having trouble taking in everything she had just heard, but with everything that had already happened, the situation seemed to actually begin losing it's overall weirdness.  
  
"Show me, but how?"  
  
"With my mind of course. What you have to realize Videl is that within one's mind, all the rules and regulations of reality have no effect. For example, if I was to think about it, I could appear as anything, from my previous form." As Videl watched in wonder, Gohan's black attire began to shift and change until he stood before her in his school uniform. ".to Saiyaman." Gohan's clothing shifted once more so that he now appeared before her in his Saiyaman costume. ".or back to how I am now." His present attire reverted back to the dark ensemble he portrayed upon his most recent arrival. Videl could only stare in shock and wonder at what she had just witnessed. "By letting you within the confines of my mind and all it's memories, I can recite to you what you want to know, while at the same time letting it play out before you as if you were watching a story come to life. Do you understand now?"  
  
"I think so, you're going to explain everything to me while using visual aids?"  
  
"Exactly. So, are you ready to know all and see all?" Gohan asked with a weak chuckle. Videl responded with a smile of her own.  
  
"I'm ready whenever you are." She replied confidently.  
  
"Then let's begin." With that Gohan closed his eyes and Videl followed suit as their surroundings sprang to life with light and color as the room, if you can call it that, began to change and reform into something completely different from what it previously was before, and with these changes, history began to reveal itself for all present to see.  
  
  
  
End Chapter 4  
  
  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
Shadow stands before the readers as the gateway in the background re- seals itself. "Greetings once more, I said that I'd return and I have, though I'm not sure for how long. As you can see, I've finally managed to finish chapter 4, and while it's certainly not as long as the previous chapters, I hope it has been entertaining. I wanted to extend this chapter a great deal more then what I had, but unfortunately, with my schedule the way it is, I had to wrap it up early if I ever wanted to get it up. Instead of writing one long chapter, I've decided that I would break it up into individual chapters, possibly 5 or 6 total, I haven't decided yet. Anyways, since I managed to finish my Tenchi Muyo sequel, as well as write and post a new Gundam Wing story, I felt that I should hurry and get this next installment up for all to view and show that I am not yet dead, and that this series will continue, though how fast it will progress has yet to be determined. If you have any questions regarding the my story, please leave them in the form of a review and if I don't end up writing the answer within the next chapter or so, I will answer it the best that I can by the end of the next chapter. Until then, take care." Shadow lightly waves to the readers as the screen fades to black. 


	7. Chapter V: The Arrival, and the Death of...

Love and War  
  
Chapter 5 of ?  
  
Disclaimer: I herby declare that I DO NOT own any of the characters presented in this story. They are the sole property of their rightful owners. I do however own the plot for this story. I do this for no financial gain whatsoever. I do this for the sole purpose to entertain you, and myself.  
  
"talking"  
  
'thinking'  
  
As she opened her eyes, Videl blinked a few times as the world around her evolved from a state of total darkness into a world filled with colors. Now, instead of the dark void that Gohan and herself had just recently occupied, Videl found herself standing upon the golden sand of a diminutive island somewhere in the middle of the ocean. Taking in her surroundings, she noticed the presence of a solitary pink house that seemed to consume a decent portion of the island itself. Her attention was then drawn from the wooden structure to the island's few currant occupants. Recalling their faces from memory, Videl found herself staring at a much younger version of Bulma, Krillin, and Master Roshi, though Roshi overall didn't seem that different from his normal appearance. Though she certainly seemed younger, Bulma's overall appearance wasn't unlike her current state. The biggest surprise, if there was one, was Krillin. Who would have thought that a guy with so much thick hair was at one time bald as a baby's bottom? Taking into account the condition of the island and warm, humid air, not to mention the fact that her present company was draped in such light clothing, Videl assumed that it was about mid-summer. Observing the trio before here, they seemed to be waiting for someone, but whom, better question though, what was she doing here? "This is where it all began." Videl was startled out of her reverie by Gohan's voice as said saiyan's dark clad form appeared seemingly out of nowhere on her left. Videl paused momentarily to reclaim her breath as she recovered from Gohan's sudden appearance. She then slapped his arm lightly in annoyance.  
  
"Darn it Gohan, don't DO that to me!" She exclaimed, visibly flustered. Gohan let a shadow of a smirk cross his features before his face became serious again. Seeing this Videl sobered up quickly before continuing as she followed his gaze back to the island's three tenants. "Where what began?"  
  
"Among other things, the end of a childhood." Though her face displayed confusion, Videl remained silent as the small group before them re-entered the turtle hermit's house. Shortly after, there was a strong gust a wind, followed by a yellow tail that streaked across the sky along the path of the flying nimbus and it's current occupants, namely a much younger Son Goku and Gohan. As the golden cloud made its decent and eventual stop at the sandy base of the island, both father and son hopped off their transport before it shot back into the sky until it was needed again. Videl couldn't help but awe at the now four year old Gohan as he stood up and smiled brightly while gently dusting off his forest green pants and yellow tunic, before adjusting his dark red hat and the adjoining dragonball on top, his tail hung almost completely limp behind him. Goku, after jumping of as well, casually shook his dark orange gi and navy undershirt before stepping up next to his son as Bulma, Roshi, and finally Krillin soon greeted them.  
  
"Is that you?" Videl asked while pointing at the young child. Gohan nodded in affirmation. "Wow.you were cute even back then," she quipped while turning her head to face Gohan. Though he managed to maintain his firm outlook, a few beads of sweat formed on Gohan's temple as a faint blush spread across his face. With the proper attire and a decent shade of green, his appearance would almost rival that of a certain Namekian we all know and love. Seeing this earned Gohan an uncharacteristic giggle from the young lady beside him. Apparently, seeing his tail didn't bother her, possible due to the fact that she had already seen it on his true form and had managed to grow accustomed to it. The astral duo continued to watch as the scene played out before them, Videl with genuine curiosity, and Gohan with only a mild interest. The five people before them continued to talk for the next five or so minutes before Goku suddenly tensed and looked upward towards the incoming target headed straight for them. Dropping from the sky and landing before the stunned spectators, Videl included, was a man who by all respects appeared to look much like Goku, except that his wild mane of dark ebony stretched all the way down to the back of his thighs, and he appeared a great deal more muscular. Decorated with some form of strange armor that protected his upper body and shoulders, as well as two separate flaps of armor that lay against both sides of his hip, the stranger introduced himself as Raditz while absently fiddling with some foreign device on the side of his head which ran from his ear to a transparent jade visor that covered his left eye. Videl's fascination with the newcomer soon turned to shock and then horror as the stranger known as Raditz suddenly lashed out and knocked Goku to the side. Videl's protective instinct emerged at this point as she attempted to leap in and help only to be restrained by Gohan as he wrapped his arms around her from behind, effectively pinning her arms to her side.  
  
"What are you doing Gohan, we have to help them." Videl continued to struggle free while Gohan continued to effortlessly hold her at bay.  
  
"There's nothing we can do Videl, they're not real, none of this is, its all just a replay of past memories." After hearing this, the young girl began to gradually cease her struggling until she stopped completely. Remaining in his strong embrace, Videl resisted the urge to turn away and continued to watch helplessly as Raditz continued his assault on the younger saiyan before finally halting. As he tried to run to his father's side, Gohan's young counterpart was snatched up by his evil uncle and held out before his injured father to see. Looking down at Goku, Raditz delivered an ultimatum to his younger brother, kill 100 people by the following day, or he'd never see his son again. Message delivered, Raditz powered up before blasting off into the distance with Gohan in tow, leaving his father and friends behind. Gohan and Videl stared as he disappeared over the horizon before Videl finally spoke up.  
  
"What happens now?"  
  
"Now, we follow him. Videl stare straight ahead and don't blink." Though she was a bit confused at his request she willingly complied. Placing a gloved hand upon her brow from behind, Gohan slowly dragged it down across her face, temporarily blinding her. After he had brought his hand completely down and she could see again, Videl noticed that they was no longer on the small island, but now appeared to be in an open field of sorts. Her trance was broken as the sounds of battle were heard from behind. With Gohan at her side, Videl turned her attention towards the battlefield a few hundred feet away where the alien warrior known as Raditz was currently engaged in battle with both Goku and another fighter seemingly green in appearance, but the young Gohan was nowhere to be found. Just as she was about to speak, Gohan once more beat her to it. "What you're now witnessing could best be described as the turning point in my life. You've already seen my father and his brother from my last memory, and the other person assisting my dad is Piccolo, you met him at the tournament. At this point in time, Piccolo still had ambitions to rule the world but in the time following this fight his ideas changed and now he's one of our greatest allies, and my best friend and mentor." Videl nodded to show that she understood.  
  
"I see, but where are you?"  
  
"In there," Gohan said as he gestured with his finger towards the nearby crater and the spherical space pod that rested in the center. "You'll see me soon enough, but for now just stand there and watch what's happening." Whatever Videl was thinking of saying remained unspoken as she did what Gohan said and stood silently by his side as the battle continued to play out.  
  
Things continued to seem bleak for both warriors as all their efforts proved to be useless. It wasn't until Goku finally managed to latch onto Raditz's tail that the tide of battle seemed to turn in favor of the Earth's would-be heroes, however, being the naïve and all too trusting person that he was, Goku was tricked by his brother into a false sense of trust, releasing him just as Piccolo fired his attack which Raditz barely managed to avoid. After regaining the upper hand, Raditz went to work driving Goku into the ground, and with each blow, the Earth's greatest warrior cried out in agony as the pain in his body grew greater by the minute, Piccolo meanwhile could only stare as he was unable to help his current comrade. From within his current holding pen, the young demi- saiyan, upon hearing his father's cries of torment, screamed out to a deaf world for his father's pain to stop, yet through the tears and the sorrow, an inner flame began to burn within the child, and as his anger and desperation to help grew, so did his power. Unable to take anymore, Gohan exploded out from the ship that had served as a temperate cell and landed before the three currently stunned fighters.  
  
From her viewpoint in the distance, Videl could only stare in disbelief at the latest actions that the young child who stood before her was displaying, Gohan on the other hand continued to remain impassive, knowing what was yet to come, he stood straight with his arms crossed before him.  
  
With a thunderous scream, Gohan rocketed towards Raditz and made contact with a head butt to the stomach, cracking his uncle's armor and inflicting a heavy blow in the process. After recovering from this latest attack, the long haired saiyan swatted his nephew to the ground, and as he prepared to deliver the final blow, Goku out of nowhere came up from behind and hooked his arms under Raditz's. In his current weakened state courtesy of Gohan's interference, the evil saiyan invader was unable to shake off his brother's iron grip.  
  
By this time Videl was practically screaming inside as she observed what appeared to be the closing minutes of the fight, confident that the battle was about to finally be won, Gohan though screwed his eyes shut and tilted his head down and away, unable to bear witness to what he knew was about to happen. Videl, who was unaware of the outcome, was puzzled at Gohan's reaction, they were about to win, yet judging by his appearance, it seemed that failure was imminent. Turning back to the fight at hand, what happened next more then explained Gohan's behavior as well shook her to the core as Piccolo delivered the killing beam of ki energy to not only Raditz, but Goku as well. She hadn't realized that in order for Piccolo's attack to hit, his father had to keep Raditz in place, and in doing so had to sacrifice himself as well in order to stop his older brother for good. The rest seemed to occur in a blur together. Shortly after the end of the fight, Bulma, Roshi, and Krillin arrived on the scene. She watched in sadness as Goku's friends mourned his departure as he disappeared from the physical plains, and looked on once more in stunned silence as Piccolo, after a brief exchange of words with the trio at hand about his plans for training the young Son, levitated the still unconscious Gohan under his arm before powering up and shooting off into the distance leaving the three new arrivals behind.  
  
Unable to fully comprehend what had just happened, she jumped slightly when Gohan placed a hand upon her shoulder. Looking into his eyes as she turned to face him, Videl could clearly see the pain and sadness that this memory had revived within his heart, though his face said nothing, his eyes spoke volumes. Wrapping her arms around his waist, Videl hugged Gohan close to her in a silent effort to comfort him and was rewarded when Gohan gingerly enclosed his arms around her shoulders in a similar manner. Standing there within each other's presence, the two lone figures offered solace to each other for the next few minutes before Gohan broke the silence. "We should continue, there's still a great deal I have to show you before we're through." Hearing no verbal objection from the young girl in his arms, Gohan brought the sides of his cape up to engulf the two of them completely before the world around them faded to black once more.  
  
End Chapter 5  
  
Author's notes:  
  
A column of black spoke arises from the ground momentarily before dissipating, and in its place Shadow is seen standing before the readers with his arms crossed before him as his cape flows freely behind him. His eyes are closed, and his head is down as if in thought before it raises up as twin orbs of onyx are revealed for all to see. "Greetings fellow DBZ readers, writers, and fanatics. As you can see I'm not dead, but I have been in seclusion for a longer period of time then I would have liked. With everything that is going on in my life both private and public, I haven't had as much time as I would have liked to contribute towards Love and War. The chapter you've just read I know is much shorter then my earlier chapters and may not be of equal quality, and for that I apologize. The chapters to come will be similar in length, I feel that it will be easier this way for me to not only write more chapters in shorter periods of time, but to also speed along the process of explaining Gohan's past to Videl which is probably the hardest part of any fic with a Gh/V pairing, because you know it has to be done for the sake of the story, yet anyone who's a fan of DBZ already knows the whole story so makes the idea of writing it all the more frustrating, so like I said before, the next series of chapters covering Gohan's past will be short and possibly a bit numerous so just bear with me please, once the final memory chapter is done, I'll do my best to make up for it with the chapter following it. In the meantime I hope that you will all continue to read, enjoy, and most importantly, review this story and tell me what you think, thank you, and goodnight." The same pillar of smoke that announced Shadow's arrival surfaces once more to engulf him, and as it sets Shadow has once again disappeared from sight. 


	8. Chapter VI: The Trials and Tribulations ...

Love and War  
  
Chapter 6 of ?  
  
Disclaimer: I herby declare that I DO NOT own any of the characters presented in this story. They are the sole property of their rightful owners. I do however own the plot for this story. I do this for no financial gain whatsoever. I do this for the sole purpose to entertain you, and myself.  
  
"talking"  
  
'thinking'  
  
As his cloak fell from her field of vision, The sight of a near barren desert land compiled of cliffs and red rock and sparsely planted forest areas rose up like pillars to greet Videl as her eyes refocused to the new surrounding in their latest stop on memory lane. Wasting little time, Gohan diverted both their gazes to the area below them roughly a couple hundred yards away. As the green warrior known as Piccolo arrived with a still unconscious chibi Gohan tucked under his arm, Videl briefly gasped in surprise when the static Namekian casually tossed the young child into a small nearby pool of water effectively waking him up. As the young saiyan unaware of his situation began to wail Piccolo barked at him to be quiet and after doing so was picked up by the not so jolly green giant and thrown at a distant stone pillar, instinctively calling upon his hidden powers to aid him, the white aura surrounding his body combusted, decimating the impeding obelisk into dust. The backlash of such a blast hurled Gohan backwards and back to the feet of Piccolo who could only stare in shock at the results of Gohan's attack, even he wasn't expecting the child's strength to be so great. As chibi Gohan and Piccolo continued to exchange a few words on the current subject, Piccolo speaking a majority of the time, Gohan glanced over to Videl with a miniscule smile on his face at her startled reaction to Piccolo's little experiment. "Not bad for only my second time eh?" Videl gawked at him as if he had lost his mind.  
  
"Are you nuts, he just tried throwing you through a mountain, you could have been killed!"  
  
"I don't think so, even if I wouldn't have powered up to do so, I would have still gone through it and survived, I might have been a little worse for wear, but nothing to serious."  
  
"Well maybe, but still.." Gohan silenced her with a finger to his lips.  
  
"Shh.. just pay attention to what I'm showing you, if you have a question just ask, but most of what I show you should be self explanatory." Videl nodded in compliance with Gohan's request. "All right then, let's do this." Levitating both Videl and himself to a standing stationary position a mile or so in the air, he snapped his fingers and images began to fly by in rapid succession from their current point in time, like a video in fast forward mode. Controlling the flow of pictures and info presented with it by sheer will alone, Gohan began to bare what he thought was the more important aspects of his life to the young girl next to him.  
  
Dropping out of warp speed, the scene rested and began to play out normally with a picture of a slightly rugged looking Gohan, who after experiencing the first few days of his survival training was currently stranded atop a small yet steep mountain, unaware of how he got in such a predicament, yet continuously monitored by Piccolo who remained situated in a lotus position a couple hundred feet above and beyond him. It was nighttime and there was a full moon out, curious to how he had a shadow at night, the young warrior- to-be took in his first real eyeful of the moon and in doing so transformed into the radical monstrous ape creature. Unable to support this new body, the ground beneath him gave way and he tumbled down the remains of the mountainside.  
  
Roaring in fury, the now giant ape known as Gohan began smashing mountains with his bare hands as very breath became a weapon, an energy beam to be exact, all the while his crimson eyes glowed with primal rage, much to Piccolo's displeasure as he tried to devise a way to stop the rampaging saiyan before there was no more world left to defend. Discovering the moon to be the source of its power, Piccolo made short work of said problem by raising his palm and firing a massive ki blast at it. Making contact the moon was shattered into nothing and slowly but surely, Gohan began reverting back to his human childlike form. Passing out from exhaustion and the use of so much energy, Gohan was unable to do anything as Piccolo dropped down out of the sky and landed next to the tired chibi and proceeded to forcefully remove his tail before magically decking the sleeping child out in set of training cloths matching that of his late fathers, but with a symbol indicating that he was Piccolo's student. Arming him with a sheath and sword to assist in protecting himself with, Piccolo powered up and with a backwards glance and a silent bid of good luck, took off into the sky and towards a place where he could focus on his own training in solitude.  
  
Fast forwarding through the memories of his past once more, Videl watched as chibi Gohan progressed tremendously through the months of his training, both with a sword as well as in natural abilities. Moving along, the pair found themselves visiting time slots in which Gohan both gained and lost the first friend he ever really had in the form of a gentle giant dinosaur that until Gohan came along was suffering from a rather nasty injury. After patching him up the two became fast friends, but unfortunately, on a random outing while gathering food for the two of them, Gohan returned later in the afternoon to find that his new friend had been slaughtered by what turned out to be the same carnivore that had been giving him problems all throughout his survival training. Upset yet undaunted by his recent loss, the young warrior in the works marched on into the horizon, now more determined then ever to do all that he could to ensure that he was ready for the danger to come.  
  
Shortly after his brief excursion with both his dinosaur friend and foe, the urge to return to his home and a mother that without a doubt was worried sick about him became so strong that the young saiyan boy took it upon himself to do whatever it took to make it back to his family. Forming a makeshift raft by lashing together numerous logs with vines, a series of large leaves bounded together made a more then adequate sail, and with a small collection of fruits and nuts previously gathered, Gohan shoved off into the water and across the sea. Unfortunately the weather seemed to be against the young man as well, a thunderstorm rose seemingly out of nowhere, and through the squalls and hazard waves his homemade boat was overturned and eventually destroyed, tossing Gohan to the mercy of the sea. Morning found the young child washed up on the shore of a deserted beach where he was discovered by a pair of young kids possibly no older then Gohan himself. Gohan's fellow chibi saviors took him back to their run down shelter, which could be loosely described as a home and is where he eventually woke up. After exchanging introductions amongst one another, the boy and his apparently unofficial sister introduced Gohan to the rest of the orphans that he had come to find inhabited the run down building that he currently resided in. After a small scuffle with the officials from the local orphanage, Gohan met the band of kid's ringleader who seemed to be at least twice Gohan's age and had the battle scars to prove his worth. The pre-saiyan soldier's visit was cut short though as the people from the adoption agency came again the next morning, but unlike every other time when they were driven back, the boy in charge took Gohan with him as they swiped a car and left the rest of the group behind to be taken in by the people from the agency. They didn't know it at first and might not till they're older, but it was all for the best in the long run. Driving for close to an hour, Gohan finally got dropped off by the side of the road and from there he had but to run over a few hills and a hundred or so yards before he came to the crest of a knoll from which he looked down upon a site that he had dreamed of for months, the sight of his house planted at the base of the shallow hill and the view of his mother sitting at the dining room table through the kitchen window. He had finally made it home, yet he hesitated to run down and burst through the door. Finally realizing what it was that he had to do, he turned and dashed back into the forest behind him, but not before making a silent promise to come back when he was done. Pausing in his run to catch his breath Gohan looked up to see Piccolo staring down at him expectantly. Coming to a mutual conclusion, both teacher and pupil returned to their training grounds to finish preparing for the saiyan invasion. Gohan had finished his survival training, and now it was time for the real work to begin.  
  
Moving ahead about five and a half more months, both Gohan and Videl were observing from a distance as Piccolo continued to practice and prepare with chibi Gohan who by this time had changed dramatically from when his Namekian teacher first found him. Dressed in a gi outfit much like the one his sensei currently adorned, minus the pads and turban, the reserves of baby fat that previously resided in and around his form had been stripped away as raw muscle now replaced it.  
  
"So all this happened in a single year?" Videl asked in disbelief. Gohan nodded once sharply.  
  
"Yes, if I'd a known that that year would be the last one of my free childhood maybe things would have been different, but as it stands I don't think I would have changed a thing." He glanced down and away with hints of sadness barely glimmering in his eyes, the young lady at his side could only look at him with a mixture of sadness, a bit of pity, yet a great deal of hidden pride and respect, to know that he went through so much at one time, and at such a young age yet manage to turn out the way he did. Wrapping her arms around his right arm, she laid her head against his shoulder as she sighed deeply.  
  
"You're really something you know that? Seeing all this and how you've taken it in stride, I don't think I could have done all this and still remained sane." Resting his free hand on her arm, Gohan smiled weakly as he leaned over and lightly kissed the top of her forehead.  
  
"We've barely scratched the surface Videl, there's still plenty to.." The rest of his sentence died on his lips as his head shot up and looked over to the younger versions of Piccolo and himself as they suddenly stopped sparring and were both currently looking into the same direction off in the distance. Puzzled and faintly worried at his abrupt halt in discussion.  
  
"Gohan, what's wrong?" She peered up at her friend's face as his features became grim. His eyes became cold and hard as his jaw clenched together tightly. Overall it was a rather intimidating site.  
  
"They're here." Videl didn't need to ask who -they- were, after everything that she had just seen and been told it could only be one thing, the saiyans had arrived.  
  
End Chapter 6  
  
Author's Notes:  
  
Making his signature entrance through a swirling portal of black energy, Shadow steps out and stands before the readers as he prepares to address them. "Greetings once more fellow authors and/or readers. I apologize once more for my rather extensive hiatus but between school and the other aspects of my life I'm afraid I haven't had much time to continue with Love and War. The fact that I've had a bit of writer's block in this area hasn't helped ether. In the meantime to get the juices flowing, I've started a new Gundam Wing story to help get me out of this rut. I know chapter 6 isn't all that long, but considering what I'm trying to do here and how much of the series I've covered in it I think I've managed to do an okay job of it. Anyways, now that I've that the juices are starting to flow again, slowly but surely, I hope to get the next chapter out within a few weeks, once again it'll more then likely be a short bit, but it'll be something at least. Until next time though, read, review, and enjoy. Goodnight everyone." The picture fades to black.  
  
ADVERTISMENT:: If you liked this story or am a simple fan of anime, then check out my other fanfiction stories on my author's page; Gundam Wing 'Old Love, New Love' and 'The Pain and Joy of Love'. In addition to these are my Tenchi Muyo fic 'Rainy Day Lover' and it's sequel 'Lovers Revealed' I can assure you that any of these four stories make for a decent read an have been labeled as so by other readers 


	9. Chapter VII: Now This is a Picture of

Love and War  
  
Chapter 7 of ?  
  
Disclaimer: I herby declare that I DO NOT own any of the characters presented in this story. They are the sole property of their rightful owners. I do however own the plot for this story. I do this for no financial gain whatsoever. I do this for the sole purpose to entertain you, and myself.  
  
"Talking"  
  
'Thinking'  
  
As the scenery around them disappeared in a swirl of colors, Videl found both Gohan and herself alone in the dark void of emptiness that they had previously occupied before this whole trip down memory lane began. Disoriented at the sudden change in surroundings Videl felt herself momentarily floating in the black emptiness stretching out around her before a solid yet invisible platform stabilized beneath her, giving the impression of solid ground. With only a minute to comprehend what was going on, Gohan appeared before her soon after, he seemed fine to the naked eye, but to one as observant as Videl, the small, almost non-existent trace of fatigue that dulled the young man's eyes of midnight hew was as plain as the nose on his face. "Gohan, are you okay?" she asked worriedly. Gohan took a moment to seemingly collect himself before answering his concerned unofficial girlfriend.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine Videl, I just wasn't expecting this to take so much out of me mentally." At her small gaze of question he continued. "Everything I create in this place takes a degree of psychological energy to maintain. The more vivid and realistic it seems, the more energy I need to expend to keep it running, which is why for most of the remainder of this.. experience, I'm going to take a different approach to showing you what I want you to know." Reaching up above his head, Gohan pulled down a white view screen from out of nowhere before disappearing behind Videl briefly, reappearing shortly after with an old time slid projector that had been mounted to a three foot tall cart on wheels. Moving it so that the cart rested to the left side of Videl's waist. Stepping up so that the right side of his own waist rested against the vacant side of the projector, Gohan spared Videl one more look before flipping it on. "This will help me conserve my power through most of what remains to be told, it may seem strange at first but you'll adapt as we move along." Hearing no objections from the one next to him, Gohan flipped the power switch and the screen came to life.  
  
#CLICK#  
  
The first frame that Gohan had presented to her was a picture of two people; one she could tell was clearly the man she had come to know as Vegeta, only younger. Then again, when you're married to probably the richest and most brilliant mind in the world who doesn't know you? He was wearing a spandex body suit and adorning armor similar to what she saw him in at the tournament, only this suit was blue and the upper body armor resembled something closely related to a set of shoulder pads that football players would wear. Standing next to the prince was a large bald man with a wry mustache wearing identical armor to Vegeta. Standing together it was clear to see that the stranger was almost twice as big as Vegeta yet didn't seem to be much on brains. The last thing that Videl noticed was a brown furry tail wrapped around both individual's waist identifying them as saiyans. Playing the part of narrator, Gohan began explaining. "The two warriors that you see on the screen before you are the saiyans Vegeta and Nappa that my now deceased uncle told us would be coming to destroy the planet and take our dragonballs for their own desires, as the years went by though Vegeta eventually became one of us, fat chance getting him to admit it though."  
  
"Okay, but what's a saiyan, and what are these dragonballs that you said they wanted?" Gohan rubbed his chin as he thought of the best way to answer her questions.  
  
"Hmm. what is a saiyan? Well, the long answer would be that they're a warrior race of extremely powerful beings born with a near killer instinct and an overwhelming desire to train, fight, and in my dad's case eat; the last one is due to their high metabolism and the vast amount of energy they burn in their daily routine. The tail that you see protruding from their lower back is quite possibly their greatest strength, yet unless trained properly their greatest weakness as well. A saiyan's tail gives him or her the power to transform into a giant ape known as an oozaru, you saw me turn into one against Buu earlier so I won't go into discussion about that any more. The strength of a saiyan can vary depending on how much they train and hone their natural skills. Even at their weakest, a normal saiyan can survive being thrown through solid stone and even some types of metal. At their strongest. well, I'll leave that to your imagination. A saiyan's power rises and falls in accordance with their will, but sometimes when emotions become involved, said power could shoot through the roof or fall through the floor. When a saiyan's power becomes so high that their regular forms can no longer contain it all, their body transforms into a more capable vessel for usage, hence the teal eyed, golden hair super saiyan that you've also bared witness to." Gohan emphasized his statement by becoming a super saiyan for a brief minute before regressing once more into his original form.  
  
"Even as a super saiyan however, there is room for even greater power, and every time one reaches the physical limits of their current body it transforms to better suit them, that's how we determine the different levels of a super saiyan, however for reason even I don't know of, unless a saiyan has his or her tail intact, they can't make the jump from level three to level four. Anyways, that's the long answer, the short one would be that they're really strong aliens that look like humans but have a tail. They like to train, fight, and can become extremely difficult to deal with when angry. As of now there are only 3 pure blooded saiyans still in existence; Vegeta, Shadow, and my dad, both Goten, Trunks, and myself are what we like to be called hybrids, our fathers are saiyan while our mothers are human. As strange as it may seem, the combination of our human genes seem to somehow enhance and improve our saiyan abilities, potentially giving us the ability to eventually surpass a normal saiyan."  
  
Pausing to breath after that semi-lengthy explanation, he moved on to Videl's other question. "The dragonballs are another story, though a lot simpler to explain. The dragonballs consist of seven golden orbs roughly the size of a baseball and are individually numbered with red stars ranging from one star to seven. They were created by the Earth's guardian whom at the time was an alien named Kami. Kami was a Namekian like Piccolo who came to Earth a long time ago from a planet called Namek. The way that the balls work, is that when someone gathers all 7 of them into one spot and summon him by name, a huge serpentine dragon by the name of Shenron will rise up out of them to grant you a single that is within his power some of which include reviving the dead within the year they died, and the power of immortality. After doing so, he will return to the balls which will then scatter to the far reaches of the Earth and become inactive for one Earth year. A while back though Kami fused with Piccolo to add his power and knowledge to Piccolo's being, and we acquired a new Namekian guardian by the name of Dende who created a new set of dragonballs, this new set has the ability to grant two wishes instead of one. That's basically it for you're two questions, anything else?" Gohan waited patiently for Videl to process the new information before she answered with a shake of her head. "Good, then let's move on."  
  
#CLICK#  
  
The following frame consisted of the Earth's Special Force at the time minus Goku who at the time had yet to arrive. "These are the fighters, minus myself and Piccolo, that were gathered together by Kami himself to help fight for the Earth. You've already met Piccolo, Yamcha, and Krillin who finally decided to let his hair grow out again, so I'll skip them and move onto the two who you've probably not met as of yet. The short mime in appearance is Chiaotzu, though his fighting skills are average, his greatest abilities lie in his usage of speed and agility, which is only right considering that he is the smallest of us all. The man with the third eye standing behind Chiaotzu is his friend and partner Tien. He fought along side us against both Vegeta and Nappa, and was present with us at the Cell Games." Gohan raised a hand to silence Videl's rising question. "Yes, we were all present at the Cell Games and I will get to that in time, but for right now let me finish with what I was saying." Positive that she would listen, Gohan carried on.  
  
"Now that the players had assembled, it was time to fight. The battle was one sided the entire time, unfortunately it was in favor of the saiyans. Vegeta sat back and watched as Nappa did all the work, we lost four of our friends and comrades against that bald brute, each one more painful for me to watch then the last. Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Tien, and finally Piccolo were lost before my dad, newly revived with help from the dragonballs, arrived back on Earth from his training in the afterlife with a being named King Kai. Using his newfound strength and skills, my dad disposed of Nappa rather quickly, but spared his life only to have it extinguished by Vegeta who felt disgraced by Nappa's rather unceremonious thrashing at the hands of my father. Knowing the dangers of the upcoming battle, my dad sent Krillin and me away for our own safety. I don't know all of what transpired between them but when a huge power increase drew us back to the battlefield, we found my dad being beaten by Vegeta who had morphed into an oozaru which was surprising considering we had no moon anymore. We later found out that it was a ball of artificial moonlight that had allowed for the transformation, the same move I used in my fight against Buu. Now a saiyan who turns oozaru is trouble enough considering all it can do in it's wild rampage, but a saiyan that can control it's oozaru form, that's a weapon of different magnitude. Though temporarily blinded in one eye from one of my father's attacks, he was more then a match for us. Finally though, a source that I'm sure would wish to remain anonymous, managed to cut off his tail, which resulted in Vegeta reverting back to his human form." Gohan mentally chuckled thinking that of all the people who could have done it, Yajirobi turned out to be the one that more then likely saved us all by slicing off Vegeta's tail.  
  
"After that the tide seemed to turn in our favor, while I managed to hold off a now injured Vegeta, my dad who was unable to continue for the time being summoned Krillin to his side and proceeded to transfer the energy for an attack known as the Spirit Bomb from his body to Krillin since he no longer had the strength to use it. Between the two of us, the spirit bomb connected and sent Vegeta on a trip into the upper atmosphere before falling back to the ground. How he did it I'll never know, but Vegeta somehow managed to survive the blast, but just barely. Having gone through enough and unable to continue, Vegeta used some sort of remote device to call his space pod to within his reach and would have gotten away Krillin wouldn't have been there ready to put an end to him, and he would have to if dad hadn't convinced Krillin to spare Vegeta's life. After doing so, Vegeta managed to make his way back into his ship and took off into space, probably heading back to wherever he was stationed at the time."  
  
#CLICK#  
  
"Moving on, we come to the space despot known as Frieza," Gohan stated as a new frame, this one bearing a photo of the terribly twisted tyrant in his final form crossed the screen with the landscape of Namek serving as surrounding background. After our encounter with Vegeta, we learned that since Piccolo died in the battle, Kami passed on as well due to some link the two of them shared, and since Kami created our dragonballs they disappeared as well. With this in mind, after a small bit of research from Bulma, it was decided that we would need to go to the planet Namek that Vegeta had told us about when they were fighting us. Since Kami was originally from Namek it was safe to assume that they would have their own set of dragonballs, which they did. The only differences, was that theirs were the size of volleyballs and were able to grant three wished instead of one or two. The namekian dragon Porunga as he was called, also had much more power then ours, such as being able to revive a person's life as often as we desired, and the time frame in which they died was unrestricted as well. It took some searching, but we eventually managed to find the ship that had originally brought Kami to Earth, and though it was rather beaten up, we managed to salvage and fix it. Once done; Bulma, Krillin, and I were off and on our way to Namek, dad would have come too, but he was still recovering in the hospital until we could get him a senzu bean to heal his body. You know what those are, I gave you one at the tournament after your match."  
  
"I never did get to thank you, but where in the world did you get something like that. I doubt you can grow them in a garden."  
  
"Actually, they're grown by a cat in the sky if you believe it." Videl just sighed in resignation.  
  
"Considering everything that has happened in the past few days, I'm ready to believe just about anything."  
  
"Well that'll certainly make explaining the rest of this much easier. I won't go into specific details about everything that happened while on Namek, but by the time we had managed to gather the dragonballs, Vegeta who had also arrived with similar intentions, ended up fighting on our side to help in the fight against Frieza. This was also about the time that we met and befriended Dende, earth's current guardian. We only managed to use two of the three wishes though before the elder namekian who created the planets dragonballs passed away due to the heartache caused by the loss of his people at the hands of Frieza. The two wishes we made were to revive Piccolo, which in turn revived Kami as well as the Earth's dragonballs, and to teleport Piccolo to Namek to help us. Regaining the usage of the Earth's dragonballs would later play a crucial part at the end of our conflict on Namek. By now my dad had arrived on Namek even stronger then before due to the extreme training he went through on his trip there, but was currently in a regeneration tank healing due to injuries sustained in a few previous battles, leaving Vegeta, Krillin, Dende, and myself in charge of the dragonballs."  
  
"Wait a minute, if you had these dragonballs all the time, why didn't you just use them right away?"  
  
"Well, unlike our balls, these apparently needed a password to activate, and even then, the wishes had to have been spoken in the namekian language so we had to wait until Dende who had left earlier returned with the needed password to use them. When he did finally get back we used what wishes we could but Frieza had found us and interrupted before we finished. Guru, the elder namekian had passed away and the dragonballs became unusable. Enraged because of his plans being ruined, Frieza attack and Vegeta, Krillin, myself, and Piccolo who had arrived shortly after the fighting began, did our best to resist, but despite all our efforts, Vegeta still fell, but not before seeing my father arrive to carry on the fight against Frieza. After what seemed like the end of the fight, we realized to our horror that Frieza was still very much alive and even angrier then before. Within two minutes, he had almost fatally wounded Piccolo whom I had flown away with because of my dad's demand to do so. At the same time he killed Krillin without batting an eye, and that's when my dad lost it and became a super saiyan for the first time, and the final round had truly begun." Gohan paused for a moment while remembering the last few events that he had revealed in such detail, each memory more vivid then the last.  
  
"In his desperate bid to destroy him, Frieza fired a huge blast at the planet itself, effectively disrupting the core and setting the planet up for destruction within five minutes. Meanwhile, while all this was happening, back on Earth, Kami and King Kai were trying to make their own plans for helping us out. With things so desperate, Shenron was summoned on Earth and was wished to revive all the people that Frieza had killed, including Vegeta. It worked, and with all but a few of the Namekians alive once more, Guru was also revived because of his people once again being reborn. Now that Guru was alive once more, so were Porunga and our third wish. With Dende who had been killed before being the closest to the dragon, he was asked to make the wish as King Kai wanted which was to teleport everyone besides Frieza off of Namek and to Earth before it exploded. Unwilling to risk letting Frieza escape though, dad had the wish altered so that only Frieza and himself were left on the dying planet. With everyone now safe from harm, dad and Frieza carried on with their fight until dad had finally managed to defeat Frieza, unfortunately time had run out, and what remained of Namek exploded, leaving nothing behind." Videl gasped softly as what Gohan had implied hit home with her, and reached out placing a sympathetic hand on his arm.  
  
"Oh Gohan, I'm so sorry." Gohan gave her a small warming smile that partially confused, yet relaxed her at the same time.  
  
"It's okay, we all thought he was dead at first, but it wasn't until we tried reviving him with the namekian dragonballs later at Capsule Corp. that we found out that he had survived the explosion, but I'll come to that later. We tried to wish him home from wherever he currently was, but were refused because wherever dad was, he wanted to stay there for some reason, whatever it was though, it didn't matter, what did was that he was alive and well. We knew he'd come back when he was ready, so in the meantime we wished back the remainder of our friends; Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu from when we fought Vegeta and Nappa, and finally Krillin since he was killed after the wish to revive Frieza's victims was made." Gohan paused for a moment of reflection before continuing. "Let's keep going, I've got two. no, one more slide to show you before the conclusion of this little trip down memory lane." After a minute or so of internal deliberation, Gohan decided to skip his little run in with Garlic Jr., figuring the less she knew about that little green bean the better. Since nobody on Earth seemed to have any idea of his intentions or that he even existed, the young saiyan felt that there'd be no need to worry his current companion anymore then she already was, the final segment of this little history lesson would be more then enough to accomplish such a task.  
  
#CLICK#  
  
The last frame that Videl bared witness to held the image of four figures, the first two she recognized as Krillin's wife 18, and Cell in his perfect form. Even after all these years, the image of that monster was enough to send a small shiver down her spine. The dark haired youth who looked like a cowboy wannabe, and purple-topped boy with the Capsule Corp. jacket and the broadsword strapped to his back were still a mystery to her. Videl waited in silence as Gohan began narrating. "What you are seeing now is a picture of the androids 17, 18, Cell, and the young violet haired boy known as Trunks. You've met 18 already, and fortunately you've never had to meet that bastard Cell in person. As for the third member of the party, he's 18's brother 17. The two of them were previously absorbed before the Cell Games, which led to Cell completing his perfect form. As for Trunks, You've seen the young Trunks with Goten at the tournament; this one however is the Trunks from a future different from our own. Three years prior to the Cell Games, he appeared to warn us of the androids eventual arrival, and later appeared shortly before the games to fight in them with us. He left for his own home and time soon afterwards."  
  
"About the Cell Games Gohan, I know you told me the truth about who actually defeated Cell, that it was you all along, but what happened that day, so little of it was seen by the rest of us, what truly happened to everyone that day, to you?" The air about Gohan as well as his facial features took on a sudden dismal tone. Switching off the projector, the adolescent warrior banished both projector and screen with a wave of his hand before turning to stand before his mental guest fully.  
  
"Are you sure you want to know? I'm not going to lie to you and say that it was an easy, or even pleasant experience. The pain and hardships faced that awful day are not ones that I'd care to remember, but if you wish to know bad enough, I can show it to you the way I saw it, but if I do this there will be know turning back. You'll have to stick it out till the end, regardless of what you might see and/or feel. Whatever you're decision is there can be no room whatsoever for doubt. Do you understand these risks, and if so are you still willing to go through with this?" Videl faltered momentarily at the harsh and strictly serious tone in her dear sweet friend's voice. Shaking off any remaining traces of doubt in her mind, she finally responded, her voice radiating confidence.  
  
"I trust you Gohan, do what you have to, I want to see everything."  
  
"Very well." Raising his gloved hands above her crown of short raven locks, a waterfall of rainbow energy, rippling waves of color ranging from red to purple and everything in between simultaneously began pulsing as they showered her in their light. "You may experience a little vertigo so hold on, and remember to breath." Doing as he instructed her, Videl kept her vision trained on Gohan through the veil of colors until the world around her began to loose shape and began to blur. Feeling a bit dizzy, Videl quickly succumbed as burst of light turned her world white. before fading to black.  
  
End Chapter 7  
  
Author's Notes: "Greeting everyone, I know it's been a while since the last chapter, but I'm sure you'll be happy to know that it's only one more chapter till I'm finished with this whole trip down memory lane, and I can get back to my original material. That doesn't mean though that I'm not going to try and make my next chapter a dozy. If you want to be kept up to date on this, or any of my other stories, consider perhaps adding my name to your Author's Alert file, that way you'll be alerted the second I posted or update anything. So, until next time my friends, fellow authors, and dear readers, farewell and adieu."  
  
ADVERTISMENT:: If you liked this story or am a simple fan of anime, then check out my other fanfiction stories on my author's page; Gundam Wing 'Old Love, New Love' and 'The Pain and Joy of Love'. In addition to these are my Tenchi Muyo fic 'Rainy Day Lover' and it's sequel 'Lovers Revealed' Finally is my newest, a Yu-Gi-Oh fic involving a pairing as rare as Exodia itself, Joey/Ishizu. I can assure you that any of these five stories make for a decent read and have been labeled as so by other readers. 


	10. Chapter VIII: Thanks for the Memories

Love and War  
  
Chapter 8 of ?  
  
Disclaimer: I herby declare that I DO NOT own any of the characters presented in this story. They are the sole property of their rightful owners. I do however own the plot for this story. I do this for no financial gain whatsoever. I do this for the sole purpose to entertain you, and myself.  
  
"Talking"  
  
'Thinking'  
  
Darkness, it was the first thing that young Videl Satan registered as her mind once more became active. She tried in vain to take in her surroundings, to find something other then the oppressive nothingness that existed all around her. It was then that she realized that she couldn't feel anything, her body seemingly ceased to exist. Her mind was clearly present and alert to this newest situation, but it felt different, almost foreign. As the blanket of shadows and silence that had engulfed her started to become more then she was willing to take, the void of blackness began to give way, as a tiny pinprick of light appeared out of nowhere. At a distance that seemed impossible to cover, the minuscule dot of luminosity began to gradually gain ground as its refreshing comfort began to spread and cover what was once dark and dismal.  
  
As surrounding brightness began to intensify a voice, barely a whisper at first, but increasing in volume seemed to be calling out. With a final burst of light, the blinding white glow dissipated and gave way to an unfamiliar ceiling. Relieved to be viewing something more on the normal side, Videl attempted to sit up and look around, only to find that she couldn't move, her gaze remained locked, almost unwillingly on the ceiling above her. 'What the heck is going on here, I-I can't move.' On the verge of panicking, Videl was caught slightly off guard as an arm that she had not instructed, raised up and began to rub the remaining traces of the sandman's sleep dust from her eyes while another feebly tried to hold back the rays of sun that flowed in from an unknown source, at least she thought they were her eyes, but if they were, how come she felt nothing. All that seemed to exist to her was a waning fatigue. It certainly wasn't her, she was anything but fatigued as things around her continued to become weirder and weirder, no, it was like there was something, or possibly someone else in here with her. She couldn't see anyone, but the feeling that she wasn't alone in here, wherever here was, began to be made obviously clear as the previous fatigue invading her senses began to subside, and in it's place a feeling of apprehension at some upcoming event took it's place.  
  
Her vision began to shift from the pale white ceiling to an all too familiar room, despite not knowing what was going, Videl assumed from the décor that she was back in Gohan's room, minus a few apparent changes as this body that she currently inhabited rose from it's bed and stood to the side. Videl strained her eyes to try and take in everything around her, but it was like trying to look through a pair of portholes, all she could see was whatever this host's body was capable of viewing. Being caught up in her latest observations, Videl was oblivious to the sound of rustling clothing. Considering what she might have seen had she been paying attention, the young Satan was momentarily confused as to how she suddenly went from nightwear to dressed for the day, did her host even wear night cloths, better yet, who was her host. The answer seemed evident as a casual full-length mirror started coming into view out of the corner of her eye. 'Finally, now maybe I can get some answers.' The young spitfire certainly wasn't prepared for the site that greeted her as the vessel carrying her was revealed.  
  
Gazing upon the image before her, Videl took in the view of a young boy no more then 11 or 12 years old gazing at her, the reflection stared back with eyes of teal as his locks of spiked blond hair seemed to defy gravity, sticking out in apparently every available direction. Moving her gaze downward, his attire seemed to consist of a deep purple fighting gi, tied off at the waist by a robin's egg blue sash. With a pair of navy blue wristbands and what seemed to be a pair of mahogany brown slippers, the ensemble was topped off by a set of adjoining shoulder pads and a white cape that draped over the entirety of his backside. The added weight that these cloths seemed to provide was existence, but hardly noticeable.  
  
'I recognize that boy, he was at the Cell Games, but what am I doing inside of him?' As if Videl's host had heard her silent question, the body's eyes shifted in the mirror's reflection to seemingly stare directly at her, unnerving the girl in question once more. Then, it spoke. "Hey Videl, surprised?" If Videl had had an existing jaw, it would have hit the pavement by now. Taking in his features, his voice, not to mention the fact that he knew her name, Videl could only come to one conclusion. 'G-Gohan, is that you?' the image in the mirror smirked back good-naturedly. "Bingo, got it in one." Videl suddenly felt light headed as she tried to rationalize everything that was happening; her body was gone for some reason or other, and her mind was now taking an apparent backseat in the head of her recently labeled boyfriend. If she could have, Videl would have been angry, but right now all that registered was confusion. 'Gohan, what. what happened to me? What's going on here?' Though his body didn't move, Gohan's reflection responded, loosing it's carefree smirk in exchange for a slightly more serious appearance. "You're in my body as it was the day of the Cell Games, at least your mind is, in a way you've become synchronized with my own, that's why you've been able to feel everything I have up to this point. You wanted to know the truth about the Cell Games and what part I played in it. You know that I was in fact the one who really beat Cell, but since you're so adamant about what exactly happened, I felt that this was the best way to show. From this point on, till the end of the Cell games you're going to be on your own, you'll feel what I felt, hear what I heard.and experience everything that I did." Videl didn't know how to respond to what she had just heard, sure she wanted to know what really happened that day, but like this? If what he said was true, could she handle it? Her thoughts were interrupted though by the young saiyan across from her. "Well, lets get this show on the road. Good luck, I'll see you again later." Giving her a final glance before snapping his fingers, Videl's protests were cut short as vertigo once more overtook her and sent her vision spiraling once more into darkness.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Pearly white clouds to the sides, bare sand and ridged mountains below with blue skies overhead, these were the surroundings that Videl found herself blowing through as she regained conscious thought once more. The trip was short lived though as what she recognized as the arena for the Cell Games come into view and she...or was it Gohan, began to descend towards the ground below.  
  
Touching down upon terra firma, a quick scan with her limited vision registered that everyone that Gohan had told her about previously was accounted for; the three-eyed Tien, Yamcha the desert bandit, Gohan's green skinned friend and mentor Piccolo, former monk Krillin, the father and son duo of Vegeta and Trunks who were decked out in matching outfits of armor resting over navy blue spandex bodysuits, and last but not least Son Goku; father, fighter, and savior. A giant of a man sporting black and lime green armor and a deep orange mohawk soon joined them. His piercing ice blue eyes sparkled lightly when he was addressed by Krillin, but when Goku introduced himself, the sparkle seemed to be replaced with an emotionless void, in the short time she had known Goku, it was a mystery as to how anyone could possibly dislike such a guy, but apparently this fellow found such a reason.  
  
Her observations were drawn to the ring as the obnoxious and annoying sounds of some moron filled the air. Videl mentally face-faulted at who was at the center of such a disturbance. 'Oh, you've got to be kidding me, dad?' The loudmouthed afro bearing neanderthal known as Hercule Satan was currently facing the Z fighters with the equally unbearable newscaster as he continued to taunt and brag about his upcoming victory and how Cell didn't stand a chance against him. Cell, even after all these years, the name still managed to still a feeling of dread in her. Staring past her overzealous father to the overgrown grasshopper behind him, Videl stared upon what had become the center of some of her greatest nightmares as Cell appeared to stare directly back at her, to say he was intimidating would be a vast understatement. The way his stance seemed to radiate among other things evil, pure undiluted evil, was more then enough to command a sense of fear on some level or other from anyone and everyone within his presence, unless one's sense of arrogance overruled their fear, which in the case of her father was painfully obvious.  
  
It seemed as if things were finally about to get underway as her father stepped up to face Cell despite the warnings not to from the one Goku, but finding it a pointless effort, he finally relented and allowed Hercule to go first, but before they could begin, there was yet another interruption as a pair of fighters and their manager arrived on the scene via plane drop and announced themselves as apparent disciples of the fighting phony. Thinking like their master that Cell was a pushover, the two arrogant entertainers stepped up to the plate to try their luck.  
  
As their feminine escort and presenter began advertising them, the first fighter of the pair, a fairly lanky man with shoulder length blond hair and a combination white tank top and bellbottoms stood before the menacing Cell as he performed a series of spins and cries before finally launching into the air, attempting to deliver a kick from above, only to be blown clear into space by a wave of his foes energy before crashing back to Earth and the ring below. All the while Cell remained silent and immobile. With his partner out for the count, the second fighter, a giant hulk of a man with the ugliest goatee imaginable and a form that better suited a sumo wrestler, proceeded to the center of the ring for his round. Blindly charging Cell like a raging bull, he was abruptly thrown back and out of the ring by a wave of energy, much like his friend before him.  
  
If not for the circumstances being so serious, Videl would have nearly been on the floor laughing at how foolish her father's apparent disciples, if you could call them that were manhandled by the violent android who didn't so much as even blink. All that she could feel from Gohan however, was a sense of indifference, as if he had expected them to fail. Videl quickly sobered up though as she watched her father stand and enter the ring, putting on a small spectacle as he did so, the final outcome may not have been caught on tape, but even she knew what was coming up next, so it came as no surprise when, after a series of flashy kicks, chops, and overrated comments by the reporter, Cell sent Hercule out of the ring and into a distant mountainside with a single swing of his arm. Truth be told she was almost rooting for Cell in that round, just so that her dad would shut up, it seemed she wasn't the only one who felt that way as Krillin leaned over to Gohan and whispered how he was actually cheering for Cell on that one. It would have almost been funny had the situation not been so serious.  
  
Now that the three stooges had been taken care of, it was time for the real action to begin. As the golden haired warrior known as Son Goku stepped up to confront Cell, Videl stared in silent wonder at the image the seasoned fighter portrayed as entered the ring, radiating above all else, pure light and goodness. It wasn't until now that things began to click. 'Oh my Kami, Son Gohan's dad is Goku, as in SON GOKU, the legendary martial arts master and former World Martial Arts Tournament champion!' The idea that she was currently in the presence of one of the most well known and respected fighters and practitioners in martial arts history was enough to send shivers up her spine, even if she was just watching him through someone else's memories. Knowing this, it was no wonder Gohan turned out to be the fighter that he was, he had one heck of a teacher. Videl was so distracted by her thoughts that she failed to notice as the two warriors exchanged their rather teasing pleasantries before charging one another in a flurry of motions barely noticeable, and non distinguishable by the human eye.  
  
The battle escalated to another level as both fighters now raised their power levels to an even higher plain. The release of so much energy rattled and tore the ground from its very foundation as golden and violet auras respectfully surrounded their masters, displaying their new strength for all to witness. Watching their movements was hard enough for the Z-fighters as it was, but now it was to a point where everyone but Gohan, Vegeta, and Trunks could barely keep a bead on their energy levels while in motion. The trio of sidelined super saiyans continued to maintain a visual lock on the airborne warriors; though it was slightly more strained now then it was beforehand.  
  
Back and forth, back and forth, both combatants attacked one another with everything they possessed. Fighting at speeds that to the human eye were non-existent, the battle between the two warriors seemed to play out almost in slow motion thanks to the fact that it was Gohan's eyes through which Videl was viewing the bout. Shortly into the match, Cell began to abandon his own techniques in favor of some of attacks favored by Goku's friends. Though try as he might, the evil android simply couldn't seem to get the upper hand despite the tricks that he continued to try and pull on the super saiyan before him. What Videl found surprising though, was that despite a small scare with the massive Kamehameha Wave that Cell launched, Gohan stood by passively watching his father fight with little more then suspense, and dare she think...puzzlement? It was as if he thought that Goku wasn't fighting at his best, despite the obvious effort that he was putting into his attacks.  
  
Following their upgrade in power, a series of rapid fire punch and kick combos were exchanged in which both warring gladiators were pushed dangerously close to the edge of the ring on numerous occasions before launching upwards and pausing in mid-air with Cell hovering a number of yards above Goku. Videl watched with apprehension as she waited for one of them to make a move, but when no one did she became a bit worried as the tension began to steadily grow. Suddenly Goku turned to the group screaming to clear away from the ring. No sooner had he said spoken before Cell launched a massive ki wave downward, destroying the ring and the immediate surrounding area. Fortunately Gohan's reflexes were much faster then hers ever could have been as he and the others safely evacuated the area with little time to spare. When the dust cleared, all that was left was a massive crater where the arena used to exist. Videl stared at the smoking hole in fear and near panic as the idea of her being anywhere near that explosion rocked her mind. 'I-I can't believe it, he just...' "Whoa, Cell blew the ring up!" Krillin exclaimed, finishing Videl in mid-thought.  
  
Though taken by surprise, Videl felt little more then a small case of shock and disbelief from within Gohan at what had just transpired. 'What the heck is wrong with him, he nearly got himself blown up and he's not even the least bit rattled?' Her thoughts were disturbed once more as the lack of a ring served only to raise the level of feral ferocity that both of them now fought with. With no existing restraints and the entire surrounding area as their new arena, the two of them continued to wage their own little war upon the barren landscape and into the air until Goku landed a solid blow, sending Cell into the ground below, as he remained suspended in the air. Bringing the palms of his hands together behind him, he began to gather energy to form the Kamehameha Wave. Given his position, the idea that the desperate saiyan would carry thru with his attack was at first view by everyone present including Cell to be nothing more then an extreme scare tactic, but then to their horror, the amount of energy gathered between his hands passed the point of no return and reached critical mass. With too much energy now drawn together to safely dissipate, Goku would be forced to ether launch his blast, or let it explode in his face, knowing the golden fighter and what was at stake, it was chillingly clear what his choice would be.  
  
As if the panic coursing through her wasn't bad enough, Videl could sense Gohan's fear as well with crystal clarity, and that served no purpose then to scare her even more. If Gohan was convinced that his father would actually carry out with this new threat, Videl was more then ready to believe him. Through the haze of fear that had swept over everyone, a twinge of confusion appeared as the super saiyan vanished from the sky and turned to surprise as he reappeared not only on the ground, but mere feet from Cell as he quickly finished his chant and stuck his arms out before him, releasing the pent up energy blast into the monster's chest at point blank range, disintegrating his body from the waist up in an explosion of flesh and gore that was immediately burned away to nothingness by the massive heat generated from Goku's attack.  
  
As the dust cleared, the singed remains of Cell's body fell over backwards upon the ground; Videl could hear cheers erupting from a couple members of their group as this newest threat was seemingly eliminated. She was about to cheer herself when Krillin stared shouting something about how Cell wasn't dead yet. Gohan seemed to be in silent agreement as she failed to sense any form of relief or joy from him, only anticipation, as he once again seemed to be waiting for something. No sooner had the fighting monk spoken, before what was left of Cell leaped to its feet and began convulsing rapidly as a completely new upper body sprouted from the scorched corpse. Leaving the group in silent shock and for some, frustration, both combatants took to the sky once more in a flash of energy. Due to the massive energy loss suffered from both parties, Goku because of his most recent attack and Cell needing to regenerate such a large part of his anatomy, both of them were a little easier to see due to the small lack of speed going into each of their attacks.  
  
In a move of what could be identified only as an act of desperation or perhaps rage, Goku made one last push to attack Cell with everything he had left. Using a rapid-fire technique, the tired warrior volleyed thousands of small ki blasts at his enemy, all of them connecting, but began disappearing as an enormous cloud of dust began to obscure everyone's vision. Videl didn't know what to think at the spectacle before her, but was encourage as she heard Gohan mentally coaching and cheering his father on, they were cut short though as a massive sphere of violet energy surrounded and expanded outward from around the menacing android, creating a shield that nullified the valiant warrior's run at destroying him.  
  
Videl watched as Gohan's dad dropped to the ground, most likely as an attempt to conserve energy, what was left of it anyways. Despite her lack of knowledge on this group that she was currently in the presence of, even the most untrained eye could tell that he was loosing strength, and fast. If he didn't do something soon, then Goku would lose more then this match, his very life was on the line. What happened next however left her totally speechless, right there before everyone present; Goku looked right at Cell and said that he gave up, just like that. As if that wasn't enough, her thought process completely shut down and gave in to Gohan's overwhelming shock as he turned to stare directly at his son and declared that he would be that monster's next opponent.  
  
'I can't believe that this is happening; he just gave up. I mean I know Gohan took over for his dad; I saw that much on TV before the picture went on the fritz, but I thought he did it to save him. How could his own father just throw him to the wolves like that? She winced as Gohan pulled himself from the mound of rock that he had recently been thrown into during the early stage of the match. Despite being laid out just now, her physical host seemed to remain virtually unfazed as he slowly stalked towards the green giant before him, stopping with a few yards between them. She was about to question the wisdom of this act before Gohan started speaking to his adversary in a low tone of voice, explaining how he finally realized why his father wanted him to fight, how his supposed hidden power was the only real chance they had at defeating him. The consequences of awaking such power though were frightening if not disturbing to the young girl within him, yet despite his small plea not to continue, Cell seemed at best amused by the young warrior's words.  
  
Unmoved by the young saiyan's words, the arrogant android continued his assault with renewed vigor, his determination to bring out this boy's so called great power fueled his attack, but all he seemed to accomplish was physically destroying Gohan even faster then intended. 'No, Gohan!' Videl was on the verge of crying at the punishment her friend was going through. As Cell was now crushing his young body in a massive bear hug the young Satan, through both Gohan and her own cries of pain at the damage, both physically and mentally being inflicted upon them, tried pondering what Goku had been thinking, making Gohan fight this monster, and more importantly; why wasn't he doing anything to help? His son was being torn apart and all he's doing is standing there watching! 'Please don't give up, fight back!'  
  
Seeing as how his latest tactic failed as well to get the desired rise out of his opponent, Cell let the abused child fall to the ground unceremoniously as he berated him once more on not rising to the occasion. Something seemed to catch his attention as Cell took off and flew to the group gathered on the cliff before returning almost as quickly, only now he was holding the small bag of senzu beans that had previously resided with Krillin. He chuckled lightly as he stared down upon Gohan. "With these out of the way, I won't even have to fight them myself." His words immediately send Gohan who had managed to rise to his hands and knees, into a small panic.  
  
"Wait, what are you planning to do?" Cell continued to smirk, mocking the young warrior.  
  
"I'm going to do whatever it takes to make you angry and bring out your full power, and if your friends end up dead then you can just blame yourself for yourself for being so stubborn."  
  
"Please, don't do this. If you unleash my power I won't be able to control it, I'll kill you." Even with full sincerity laced in his voice, the evil android didn't even consider the possibility of his words ringing true, a mistake that he would later regret.  
  
"Don't make me laugh, once I've had my fill, I'll just stop you myself." As he looked back to the others who were bracing themselves and waiting for Cell to make his move, Gohan made a weak attempt to stop whatever he had planned to do, but was kicked back to the ground before skidding a few feet farther away. "That's the spirit, get angry, let your fury overcome you." Distracted by Gohan's latest attempt, Cell was unaware of what was happening behind him until android 16 suddenly appeared from out of nowhere and latched on to Cell, pinning both arms to his side. The villainous android wasn't the only one taken aback by this latest development. Videl, along with Gohan was paralyzed in place as she stared through borrowed eyes at the towering mechanical android as it held Cell in its grasp, announcing how he planned to stop Cell by self-destructing.  
  
With his body beginning to glow, everyone tried to defend themselves as well as possible, but something happened and the android's body stopped glowing. No one knew what was wrong until Krillin started yelling something that was still too faint for her to hear, but judging by the reactions of everyone else, it couldn't have been good. Using this moment of shock to his advantage, Cell broke free of his captive's grasp before turning to face him and sending an energy blast directly through his chest, literally blowing the reformed android into thousands of pieces.  
  
Fear, it was the only thing that Videl found the she herself could feel, but the sheer horror echoed through Gohan's mind, and she felt it in spades. As her psyche seemed to merge even more with Gohan's, she noted something different. It was as if something in her mind was building towards the surface of her conscious, or was it still part of Gohan that she was just feeling. Whoever it belonged to, this new feeling continued to struggle for release; it was extremely powerful, and so pure, yet something unidentifiable continued to hold it back, except that now a small part of the restraint seemed to have disappeared. Was this the power that Cell had been trying to coax out of Gohan? Was this the power that Gohan was so desperately trying to contain, and if so then why? If unlocking this power could be the deciding factor in defeating Cell then why was he holding back?  
  
Noticing his reaction, Cell turned back towards the other fighters and counted off seven total. After finishing, his body tensed as the end of what remained of his tail spread open once more to provide a large funnel. Converting a fraction of his power into his task, Cell expelled seven balls of... something from the opening on his back, and as each mound of mucus encased sea blue material hit the ground, they shivered momentarily before standing to form seven miniature versions of their creator. Giggling insanely, the group of Cell juniors were airborne as their master ordered them to storm the cliff and attack the other Z warriors, much to young Gohan's distress.  
  
'Oh Kami, I didn't see that, tell me I did not just see Cell shoot a bunch of pint sized replicas of himself out of his back. Repulsion at such an act turned to panic and fear once more as the pack of diminutive Cells were ordered to attack the still battle weary Goku and the other members of the Z senshi. As they approached their prey, thoughts of what they might do to his family and friends intensified the burning desire inside of him as Videl felt another fraction of the restraint within give way, yet continued to hold steadily upon the beast straining to be released.  
  
Gohan watched, frozen in fear as his father and friends continued to fight valiantly, yet ultimately fruitless in their endeavor against the small army of tiny androids. Through the chaos, Cell periodically cheered them on, pushing Gohan further and further. Meanwhile Videl, now completely intoned with Gohan's mind felt fear to a previously unknown extent, much stronger then anything she had ever known, but despite the fear, helplessness ruled supreme. Her mind was screaming to do something, but all body functions seemed to cease, as a hand of ice seemed to grip her heart, holding her in place. 'T-this pain. so strong, is this what you were feeling the whole time Gohan? I-I feel so strong, but at the same time so useless. I have to do something, but what?' Among all the confusion and turmoil swirling within the scared saiyan's mind, the steel strands of restraint continued to progressively break away as the power it contained grew with every collapsing fiber.  
  
"NOOO! PLEASE STOP IT!" Having gotten to his feet minutes ago, Gohan couldn't help but cry out as Cell relayed the death sentence for his minions to carry out.  
  
Videl was near tears as Gohan's emotions were overwhelmingly clear in her mind. She began to cry in anguish as the emotional scars being inflicted upon Gohan tore violently at her very soul without mercy. 'I can't take it, the pain, the helplessness. I want to help, but how? What do I do?' It felt like she was going insane, the onslaught of emotions made her mentally curl up into a ball, much like a terrified child. 'I...I feel so alone, what am I suppose to do?' She sniffed once as her eyes began to grow misty. 'Please.someone, please help me.' Desperation grew rapidly as the restraints on this mysterious feeling within her began to decline at an accelerating rate. The bridled force within began to blaze like an inferno, it's power began to nip at the edges of her mind, much like the makings of a headache, but instead of pain, it seemed to cause tension instead. The scarcest of threads continued to maintain a straining hold on what lurched at the back of the scared fighter's mind. It wanted out, and she felt Gohan wanting to let it out, but something was still holding it back. The pressure created from such a strain was enough to make her tremble.  
  
The strangling tension paused momentarily as the previously decapitated head of android 16 came out of right field courtesy of Hercule and landed upon the ground before Gohan. It called out his name once to get his attention before speaking. "Gohan, let it go. It is not a sin to fight for the right cause. There are those who words alone will not reach, Cell is such a being, I know how you feel Gohan, You are gentle, you do not like to hurt. I know because I too have learned these feelings, but it is because you cherish life that you must protect it." From the moment he started talking Gohan as well as Videl had been hooked on his every word, taking in every syllable as if it was a drop of life giving water to a desert wanderer. What remained of their sanity seemed to hinge on the androids words and the soothing effect they seemed to have. However Cell had also discovered the machine's presence and up to this point had done nothing, but now turned to the source of his annoyance and decided to have his say on the matter as each footfall brought him closer to the vocal head.  
  
"Ugh, this sentimental downpour is killing me. It's so nice of you to help 16, but I plan on doing this my way." Despite this 16 continued with his message as he gave the scared saiyan a small smile with as much warmth as a being such as he could manage.  
  
"Please...drop your restraints, protect the life I love. You have the strength, my scanners sensed it, just...let it go."  
  
Gohan continued to stare at the near lifeless head as its heartfelt message sank in, but it was short lived, as his trace over the head was broken as Cell's foot mercilessly crashed down across it. Microchips and mechanical gears sprayed in every direction, as well as traces of blood mixed in with them. Amongst the debris, the CPU component with its life giving light fell over and faded away, signaling the true demise of android 16 as Cell smiled arrogantly down at the distraught child. "Yet another fighter...you could have saved."  
  
The sight of the kind android's death seemed to be it for Videl, tears were now running slowly, yet unchecked down her cheeks as whatever remnants of her sanity and kindness seemed to slip away. Everything was numb, it felt so cold, but she no longer seemed to care. At the moment all she could do was continue to stare into nothingness as Gohan's thoughts invaded her senses at an alarming rate. '16 you loved life, you gave everything up to save it...and you were just an android. I let you die, I can't do that, I won't watch anymore. I-I feel it slipping.'  
  
It was gone...the very last thread of restraint holding back the overwhelming force in the back of her mind had finally snapped. The mysterious haze shrouding this power was lifted, as scorching white-hot rage barreled its way to the front of her conscious. The accumulation of everything up to this point; the physical pain inflicted by Cell himself, the psychological torture of those mini monsters slowly killing his family and friends, and finally the inner turmoil of being unable to help, the feelings of pain and loneliness on the battlefield, all this fueled the fire that now engulfed her mind, body, and soul. The power. the sheer unbridled power that flowed through each vein and artery, emitting from every pore on her body, overloading her internal sensors in every way possible. Staring out at the cause of all this pain; Cell with his boot still planted between the remains of android 16's head, and the miniature Cells wreaking havoc upon the near defenseless Z fighters, her body trembled once more, but now with power. Gone were all previous inhibitions, and as the anger and fury circulated throughout her mind and body, a curtain of red overlapped her vision entirely, bathing everything around her a hue of red crimson.  
  
'...AND I WON'T WATCH IT ANYMORE!'  
  
Chorusing together, one mentally and the other verbally, an earth shattering scream echoed throughout the countryside, and rocked the heavens themselves, heralding the arrival of a power more then a decade in the making, the arrival of Son Gohan: Super Saiyan 2.  
  
The small massacre that followed wasn't exactly what she was expecting. Despite the current haze of battle rage, all seven of the tiny terrors met with a swift, yet judging from their screams, rather painful demise. With only a single blow, be it a punch or kick, the youngest super saiyan eliminated them one by one, even when the final four mini Cells ganged up on him in a joint effort, not a scratch was to be found on his body, and with what seemed like little to no effort at all eliminated the remaining midget monsters. As the red mist dissolved from sight with the disembowelment of the final Cell junior, Gohan came to a stop before Cell himself and tossed the recovered bag of senzu beans to Trunks with instructions to treat the others, before slowly stalking towards the mighty monolith before him.  
  
It was gone, the blinding rage and anger that clouded her mind was gone, but in its place was now a deep coldness. Gohan was clearly live and well, yet...inside, it was like he was dead. No warmth, or kindness...nothing, not even hate, only desire...the desire to eliminate the cause of his pain, to eliminate Cell himself. A small stare down later and the true battle began. Videl could feel Gohan's new power flowing freely through her, but despite the intensity of it, she felt him holding back. It was like he was now mocking Cell, the same way that he had been treated only a few minutes past. It didn't make any sense, why didn't he just finish him off already? She had to give him credit though, with everything happening around him, Gohan was certainly keeping a cool head, not to mention that he was thinking with crystal clarity.  
  
Facing one another, Cell paused to rein in his temper before smirking, briefly commenting on Gohan's new strength, he made his own claim of yet even more power which he promptly released in a dazzling display of illumination and ground shaking proportions. Basking in his recently released strength and speed, his bubble was abruptly popped as the look on his enemy's face showed that he was clearly not impressed. Thinking that he must be joking Cell waited a minute before realizing that the kid was serious, that his power was truly not affecting him. Deciding to take it a step further, the pale-faced hellion delivered a right hook to Gohan's face before he could even blink. The smile at his accomplishment almost immediately turned to one of disbelief as the child before him didn't even shift his feet in retaliation, just continued to stare back impassively. Pulling back to strike again, the agitated android was taken aback once more as Gohan embedded a strong right jab to the sternum before following it up with a powerful uppercut, both causing an amount of damage severe enough that even Cell seemed unable to regenerate. Taking the offensive, Gohan continued to calmly block or evade every attack Cell threw at him while countering with one of his own. Deeming physical blows ineffective, the evil abomination turned to energy attacks, including stolen techniques from the other fighters, yet each failed, one after another. Approaching the now panicking predator of a fighter, Gohan stared up at him viciously as he reminded Cell how this was what he wanted, to see the young warrior's true power, and now that he had, he was afraid, because he knew that he was going to die. That was the final straw, hearing such a statement calmly delivered with such confidence set the despicable bio-android into a frenzy as he suddenly took off into the sky, leveling off nearly a mile in the air.  
  
'He's running, I can't believe that monster is running away!' Videl exclaimed, surprised, but happy at the same time. As Cell, in what seemed to be a last resort, began gathering energy to launch a killer Kamehameha Wave at the speck of warrior that they had become in his eyes, the young woman's happy thoughts quickly flew out the proverbial window, as paranoia took over. 'Oh Kami, he's going to do it; he's going to destroy everything. We've got to get out of here.' Yet despite her cries, Gohan remained stationary and unyieldingly watched as the energized sphere of destruction carved its path towards the immobile saiyan and his feminine mental guest host. 'Gohan what are you doing, get us out of here!' She wanted to scream, yell.even cry a bit as the end seemed so imminent, completely forgetting that however it happened, Gohan won in the end. Despite her own emotions begging to be heard, all she could feel was Gohan's cool indifference and perhaps a small feeling of annoyance, as if he was somehow disappointed with Cell's latest actions. Hearing him silently chant the same words as he went through the motions, Videl surrendered to her own shock at what her best friend was going to attempt. 'Your kidding me, he's going to try match THAT? Gohan it's too late, get back!' Even if the adolescent had heard her pleas, Gohan showed no evidence of it as he forced his hands forward, launching his own concentrated blast at what would otherwise become his home world's destruction.  
  
As both balls collided, it appeared to be too little too late, but surprisingly Gohan's blast which seemed a mere tenth the size of Cell's gradually began pushing back until it increased in speed swallowing the second wave in the process. Overwhelming him with a blast now more then twice as strong as what he put out, Cell's body was temporarily lost from sight as the massive sphere of ki passed through the atmosphere and exploded, momentarily blinding everyone present. In his current state, such a blast should have killed the green juggernaut twenty times over, yet when the light faded and everyone stopped seeing spots, there, still floating yet severely damaged, was the mangled and profusely bleeding android, alive but barely kicking. Seemingly unaffected by the previous light show, Gohan stared up at the result of his latest handiwork with a dangerous smirk that most might have even passed off as a thing of evil.  
  
"Holy crap! I can't believe he pulled it off. I knew he must have been strong as a kid, but this is incredible!' Videl was flabbergasted at Gohan's recent display of power but soon realized what Cell's current status meant. 'This must be it,' she thought with glee. 'He's going to put Cell away for good now.' She waited in nervous anticipation for him to end this nightmare, but began to grow a bit confused when Gohan just stood there and watched as the wounded warrior above them continued to struggle in attempt to regenerate. 'What's he waiting for, why is he just standing there?' Goku's voice took her by surprise as he starting yelling at his son to stop wasting time and finish Cell off. The only thing Videl found more disturbing then the fighting veteran's words was when his son responded by saying how he wanted to wait and let this monster suffer. How she had managed to ignore it to this point was unimaginable, but now it was all becoming clear, the disillusioning pride and smug arrogance that had been clouding the young hero's rational thought was almost suffocating as she began to feel overwhelmed with self confidence, even she knew how dangerous too much of such a thing could be, but try as she might, Videl could only stare on in silence as the evil organic android eventually pulled himself together, and pray that this mistake didn't end up costing someone their life.  
  
By now Cell was beyond livid as he had been completely out powered, out witted, out maneuvered, and completely humiliated, and by a mere child nonetheless. Tossing whatever had remained of rational thought to the four winds, Cell powered up with renewed vigor and with blind rage backing him the entire way, increased his physical mass to abnormal proportion until he towered several feet over the pretentious pint sized powerhouse before him. Unknowingly sacrificing vital speed for brute strength, the rabid android attack hurriedly but was continuously avoided as Gohan nimbly dodged every blow, waiting for the proper moment. Seeing his opening as he hopped back from the green giant's latest swing, Gohan coiled back before springing forward to deliver a flying roundhouse to the side of Cell's head successfully stopping him in his tracks, before repeating his performance, this time literally burying his foot into the black armor encased torso of his foe, leaving the unfortunate recipient to stumble back before collapsing to his knees, clutching his chest painfully. Visibly delighted at the convulsing, drooling, eye boggling mess before him that was once the self proclaimed perfect creation, Gohan stood patiently before Cell as he continued to violently spasm before somehow dispelling Android 18 in large pool of mucus.  
  
Observing the young woman's body fall to the terrain, Videl found herself wanting to lose her lunch as well, but because of her situation could only settle for dry heaves. This starting to get a little too much for her to handle, but with Gohan pulling all the strings, the smug arrogance that continued to fill her mind intensified at the site. 'How can he be so calm with this entire happening? Why won't he just end it already?' With the female android expelled from the belly of the beast, Videl watched as the crippled titan began to change once more. Where there was once pale pasty white skin now became green and peppered with black spots, his face became longer as a small, smooth dark beak protruded from where his mouth and nose once resided. As Cell's tail which had to this point been retracted into his back unfurled to its full length once more, the final product, now devoid of his perfect power, resembled something more along the lines of an overgrown amphibian. Foolishly attacking his destroyer once more, Cell was immediately laid out as Gohan's last counter attack sent him skidding across the ground and into a pile of moderate boulders before coming to a halt. As the silent super saiyan stalked the swirling, sifting sands beneath him towards his fallen foe, it seemed that even Gohan had grown tired of this fight and had decided to finally finish it, she could feel the cockiness then flooded her senses beforehand slowly draining from her to be replaced once again with a feeling of indifference. It appeared that the end was finally near, and Videl sighed in relief at the idea that this would all soon be over, but the way Cell was acting as the knoll of his final elimination began to chime unnerved her. 'It's about time he finished this, I should be happy, but then...why do I feel like something bad is about to happen?'  
  
Having tried literally everything in his bag of tricks, as well as every technique that he knew, Cell found himself staring into the glossy teal eyes of his impending demise as the small super saiyan silently stalked forward, intending to finally finish the job. With no other options available, he decided that if he were to die, then he'd be sure to have some company. It started with his eyes, before spreading throughout the entirety of his body. As dust clouds began to swirl and the initial power up cracked the ground beneath them, Cell began to swell to colossal proportions until he resembled an overly inflated balloon, an extremely ugly balloon, but one nonetheless. Though still defiant, or perhaps in denial, the look of panic and fear that swept across Gohan's face at the announcement of his decision pleased the demented android to no end, and to see how the mighty warrior had fallen to his knees once the realization of what was about to happen sunk in, well that was the proverbial icing on the cake.  
  
'No! This can't be happening, not now...we were so close...' the despair Videl felt as her own was more then enough to emotionally hurt her, but now as a part of Gohan, all his previous feelings of helplessness, sinful pride, and now self-loathing at his failure to protect everything and everyone he cared for bearing down on her as well, crestfallen, the raven haired young woman joined the demoralized boy on her knees. Dropping her head in defeat, thoughts of what was about to happen stabbing at her mind, Videl felt Gohan look up as a surprised gasp from Cell drew their attention to a familiar blond hair, orange clad man staring at them with twin orbs of teal light, one hand on a portion of the mass that had become Cell, and the other with both the middle and index finger upon his brow.  
  
Goku gazed down at his confused son with love and tenderness that only a father was capable of; Gohan may have not realized it, but he did so much more then what his father. what all of them expected of him, and now he had to finish the job in order to insure the safety of his family, friends, and all other life on Earth. Seeing the uncertainty in the child's eyes, Goku knew he was making the right choice...the only choice. "Hey, you put up a good fight Gohan, I'm proud of you."  
  
"What...daddy?"  
  
"Take care of your mother for me, she needs you. Tell her that I had to do this Gohan. He could only stare, mouth agape at what his father was telling him. He made it sound like he was going away, but he couldn't, he wouldn't.would he? The pride and caring that he saw in the gentle eyes of his father and own personal hero relayed the message to a horrified Gohan who now realized what his dad had planned to do, his next words sent a river of ice down his spine. "Goodbye...my son." Then, using the Instant Transmission, Goku and Cell winked out of sight as Gohan rose to his feet moments later.  
  
"NO, COME BACK!" his scream fell on nonexistent ears as Gohan was now alone on the battlefield with the rest of the Z fighters on the Cliffside in the background. Inside Videl watched the brief exchange with between father and son in misery as her emotions left her paralyzed to do anything else. She could feel the terror in his voice as he cried out to his father before he disappeared with the kamikaze killer 'He.he sacrificed himself. for us. He gave his life with out a second thought to save everyone else.' Staring through his eyes out to where Goku stood minutes ago, she felt the moisture that had been pooling in the outer corners of his eyes overflow as the floodgates keeping his tears in check fell away, releasing twin rivulets of fluidity to stream unchecked down his face, blazing a trail through the dirt and traces of dried blood that covered him in numerous places from head to toe.  
  
Wrapped up in the heat of the moment, the first wave of mental pain struck quickly and relentlessly, attacking Videl at every turn. The shrill cry of anguish and suffering echoing from every existing direction brought the terrified girl to her knees. Without warning, the dual portals to the outside word disappeared as numerous scenes from earlier in the battle began to rapidly play and replay in her head, moments where Gohan was easily in a position to defeat Cell but didn't, how Goku was shouting, almost begging him to finish it. Thousands of emotional razors began slashing violently at her psyche as she felt Gohan torturing himself with every haunting memory that burned it's way into his mind. Every opportunity he let by that could have been used to stop Cell seemed like a nail in his father's coffin. It was so intense, she could feel everything, and it was mortifying, the pain he was submitting himself to was...was...it was unjustified. Memories from further in the past came to light, memories of his dad and how he always seemed to be there for him when he was needed, be it big or small. The last image, in which he was staring caringly at his son before teleporting away, seemed to solidify before Videl. Mesmerized by the realness of it, she tentatively reached out a hand to touch it, desperate to grasp onto something warm and pleasant, anything to stop the hell that Gohan was putting himself though, and as a result crushing her emotional heart in the process. As the image came within reach, the burden she seemed to be carrying appeared to lighten a mere breath, but no sooner had the tip of her middle fingernail made contact with it's surface, before the picture instantly exploded into slivers and shards of multicolored glass. With a will seemingly of their own, every piece of the shattered image flew through her, each carrying a wish or desire of Gohan yearning to die, to have taken Goku's place, how with every blow the idea that the one time his father truly needed him he had failed. Unable to withstand the endless barrage of depression and lose, Videl collapsed backwards onto whatever currently passed in this world as ground, void of all remaining strength, along with the will to stand up again.  
  
As she laid there in solitude for a moment nothing happened, but then, as the climax of sadness and remorse washed over her, the first tear fell, and then another, and another, soon each tear began to melt into the next until the few tears that came before gave way to openhearted crying. Videl cried for the pain her heart was suffering at the hands of Gohan's memories, she cried for Gohan's loss, for the loss of Goku, one of the noblest people to have ever existed, an angel in mortal flesh.now gone once more. She cried for reasons she didn't even know, finally her thoughts returned to Gohan. 'Such pain. and hurt. Gohan, oh Gohan I'm so sorry this happened. No one should have had to see this, but you did.and you were only a child.' As she began to lose herself in darkness, the columns of light that served as her windows to the world return and she could once again see outside the mind of Son Gohan and into Krillin's friendly face as the mighty monk consoled his friend with words of comfort and steady arms to lift him to his feet, and in doing so raised her up as well. Though saddened over the turn in events the fact that Cell was gone remained and that everyone could finally breath a sigh of relief however tainted it was; evil had been abolished once more, or so it seemed.  
  
As Krillin left his side to attend to the previously forgotten Android 18, Gohan turned his face to the sky as thoughts of his father flickered though his young mind again. The silent mourning of the small group gathered was short lived however as the wind began to pick up, forming a storm of sand and dust. At the center a massive crackling of lighting and energy circulated before a large backwash of power expanded outward, vaporizing pebbles and small rocks while the larger debris was only made smaller. What drew the most attention though weren't the sight, but the ki signature emitting from within. It seemed utterly impossible to be true, but when a single beam of light unexpectedly shot out from the blinding soil and through Trunk's chest, it became painfully obvious, as the smoke cleared, the mass of fighters stared through the flying remains of rock and rubble in mute horror as Cell stood before them, once again in his perfect form and seemingly better then ever, even Gohan seemed to have a hard time believing this one.  
  
'NO! This is not happening! He's suppose to be dead, how did Cell survive?' Videl was still a bit shaken from the fact that this monster had somehow survived yet again, but now it was replaced one more with anger. How this...thing...had survived was a mystery, at least it was until Cell decided to grace up with the story of how his regenerative abilities helped return him to full strength, along with the knowledge of how to now use Goku's Instant Transmission technique. Videl didn't care though; all she knew now was that Cell was still alive, and that she wanted him dead. As Gohan openly challenged the rejuvenated android to another round, almost pleased to have another shot to stop this vile creature himself, Videl cheered him on, howling out for the monster's death.  
  
Vegeta however seemed to have the honor of the first assault, spurred on by the attack on his son, the saiyan prince dashed forward like a raging bull before ascending to super saiyan and quickly striking Cell with a charged ki beam that shook the land around them as if a bomb had just gone off, covering the area with newly formed dust clouds. Unsatisfied with the single shot, the flame haired warrior rose further into the air above the chaos and with great precision, began rapid firing multiple beams of ki into the center of the storm, picturing his son's would-be-slayer being torn apart at the seams by every blast. His attempts were in vain though, for when he finally stopped to assess the damage, a sneak attack by Cell found Vegeta lying helplessly in the earth below. Firing what he intended to be the hotheaded prince's fatal blow, Cell's blast was intercepted by Gohan who at the last instant dived across Vegeta's prone form, taking the brunt of the blow himself.  
  
For a minute there was a blank numbness, and then searing pain, lacing through her arm as the damage done by Cell's attack left Gohan's left limb hanging uselessly at his side in addition to robbing him of a large percentage of his strength. As Gohan managed to get to his feet, Videl felt the stress of Gohan's pain ravage her mind, adding to the turmoil already suffered. She felt so weak, knowing that this was how Gohan was feeling; she wondered how he continued to stand in defiance of this powerful juggernaut of malevolence. She sensed his determination holding strong, despite the situation at hand, as Cell brought his hands back though to form what she realized to be a Kamehameha Wave, she could feel that determination waver greatly as hope seemed to flee. 'Gohan no, don't give up, not now when you're needed the most.' Even with her encouragement he remained unchanged, giving up before it was truly over, until someone decided that a little divine intervention was in order.  
  
Gohan stared into the face of what would ultimately be their destruction, resigned to the belief that they were all about to soon join his father. 'So this is it, this is how it ends.'  
  
'You got to be joking, giving up already? Well that's nothing like the Gohan I know.' Caught off guard, Gohan blindly looked around for the source of his father's voice.  
  
'D-dad; where are you?'  
  
'The Otherworld, and thanks to King Kai I can communicate with you telepathically. I know you have the power to beat him Gohan, I've sensed it all along. Now, give him the biggest Kamehameha you've got, I know you can do this Gohan...I promise.'  
  
'No dad, I can't even use one of my arms anymore, and my energy has been cut in half.'  
  
'Remember what you learned in our training, and trust yourself. It may feel like Cell weakened you, but really what's draining your strength is your own doubt, just don't listen to it, okay.'  
  
'Okay, it's all starting to become clear now dad.' Gohan's eyes fell on Cell. "I've got one arm left, but that's all I need.'  
  
'And don't even think about feeling sorry for me, because King Kai and I could be having anymore fun up here if we tried.' King Kai couldn't help but sneak in a brief snort.  
  
'Humph, speak for yourself...home wreaker.'  
  
'But dad, it...it's my fault you died cause I got carried away. If I had only finished Cell off quicker, I would have...' Goku cut him off at this point.  
  
'Hey, who knows what would have happened, for all we know, what you did was the best move. Sometimes life gets too uncertain to have regrets.'  
  
'Yeah but...'  
  
'If you want to blame anyone for this blame Cell, make him pay for what he's done.'  
  
'I will!' Filled with a renewed determination to fight. Gohan began gathering strength to make his final strand. Knowing that this was to be the final showdown, the mighty saiyan child recited his father's infamous chant before unleashing the Kamehameha Wave to meet Cell's own blast head to head.  
  
The conversation that had just taken place was so moving; Videl dared not speak or even think for fear of interrupting them. She had no idea how Goku managed to get through to talk to Gohan, but she didn't really care; it did the trick, Gohan was back in the fight and ready to go, and as both beams collided and the battle for Earth began she just prayed that it was enough. 'Come on Gohan, you can do this, I know it.'  
  
As both beams fought against one another for control, the remaining Z fighters with their injured in hand took off to put distance between them and the rapidly growing sphere of deadly energy as it literally shredded the ground beneath and around it. Back and forth it went, nether side gaining complete control. With Cell on one end fighting with nothing but brute force and Gohan on the other will nothing but his will to live and his father cheering him on from the other side, both combatants refused to relinquish control, but with so much damage having been accumulated beforehand, Gohan naturally began slipping, despite his best efforts. Now, with the planet's very existence hanging in the balance and their friend and comrade doing his best to hold on, the remaining Z senshi flew out to the war zone, intending to help in whatever way they could. Starting with Piccolo, followed by Tien and Yamcha, and ending with Krillin, the four of them landed behind Cell and started raining down on him with their special attacks, but Cell managed to blow them away with only a small portion of his energy and concentration. It was however enough to help Gohan gain equal ground once more, and in spite of the ease that they were dispelled with, all four warriors continued to get up and fight on, even if they didn't make a difference, they'd be damned if they let Gohan stand alone without at least trying to help him.  
  
It was Videl's turn to feel helpless now. With his friends laying upon the ground tired and powerless to rise again, they could only watch as Gohan now began to steadily lose ground, the power of Cell's attack was becoming too much, yet with the heart of a lion and the basic instinct to survive at his disposal, the struggling super saiyan pushed on, refusing to relent. With little ground left to lose, Gohan continued to pour everything he had into his own attack while praying for a miracle of any kind. 'Keep it up Gohan, don't give up.' Even if her words did fall on deaf ears, Videl didn't think it would hurt to try. Clenching her fists and bowing her head with closed eyes to her chest, she shouted out to the heavens and whoever might be listening in frustration. 'FOR THE LOVE OF KAMI, GIVE US A BREAK!'  
  
No sooner had she spoken, said break was delivered in the form of Vegeta. Unnoticed by everyone till the last minute, the saiyan prince gathered every remaining scrap of available energy he had to spare, before compacting it all into a single cluster and firing it at the unsuspecting android, nearly exhausting him in the process, it was enough nevertheless. Knocking him off balance and breaking his concentration Cell made the fatal mistake of becoming distracted by Vegeta's action, a mistake that once realized Gohan quickly capitalized on, throwing literally everything he had remaining into one final push, including part of his very life essence, Gohan took charge, and despite the terrible titan's pathetic attempt to regain some sort of control, began moving forward while still feeding the enormous ball of energy.  
  
Videl was on the edge of her seat; she felt her body literally burn with power, the same as it had when Gohan had first ascended to the second level of super saiyan. With fire in her eyes and a will of iron, she felt everything within her exiting her, draining her of all strength. Even with no spare energy left to give, she felt more continuing to leave her body, weakening her, yet with apparently nothing more then pure desire to drive her, Videl watched as Cell's end caved in, and with a final staggering burst of strength, fired the ki sphere forward engulfed him completely.  
  
Overrun with the deadly power of their combined attacks, Cell's body began to deteriorate. Every organic component of his body that existed was vaporized in the blast, until not even ashes remained. It's task complete, the immense death beam exited the Earth's atmosphere and passed harmlessly into space, steadily breaking up in its vastness. Physically and mentally spent, Gohan hovered momentarily before dropping out of his super saiyan state completely and plummeting to the ground below. As his bruised, beaten, and battered body harshly hit the terrain below through it all he managed to emit a strangled laugh, they had finally won. Inside Videl, while just as exhausted as her host, felt Gohan's joy radiating throughout her being, and despite all the heartache it took to get to this point...it was worth it. The tinkling sound of Gohan's laughter filled her head as the world around her faded to black and unconsciousness mercifully embraced her.  
  
The first think Videl registered when she regained consciousness, was the soft, whispery feeling of individual blades of grass massaging the back of her neck as a cool breeze from the north swooped down from the mountains and across the plains, gently ruffling the individual folds of her clothes. 'Ah, the breeze feels nice. Wait a minute. breeze? I feel a breeze?' Snapping awake, the young Satan quickly sat up from her position on the ground, a move she quickly regretted as a sense of dizziness washed over her, disorienting her somewhat before clearing up. Somewhere during the whole trip she must have fallen backwards and had landed on her back. Looking around her, the fading twilight, the nocturnal wildlife beginning their nightly rituals, the fact that she could call all these feeling and emotions her own once more, only one word seemed to describe what she was feeling right now. 'Wow.' Getting her thoughts together, Videl mentally checked everything that she had learned and experienced in the past few hours from her time with Gohan. 'I can't believe I just saw all that...it seemed so real. How did Gohan managed to deal with something like this for so long...Gohan!' Having forgotten about him till just now, Videl scanned the immediate area until her deep blue eyes fell upon the prone body of her saiyan friend, sprawled over on his side; his breathing mildly ragged as individually sweat soaked locks of ebony was haphazardly plastered to his forehead and temple. "Gohan!" Quickly crawling over to his side, Videl gingerly lifted his head up before cradling it in her lap. "Gohan, are you alright?" A soft groan was Gohan's response as his eyelids gradually fluttered open to be greeted by those of his concerned friend.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I asked if you were alright?" Resting for a minute before responding, Gohan slowly sat up, and with Videl's help made it to his feet albeit a bit shakily at first.  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that whenever I do something like that for a long period of time, the strain on my mind starts to get to me and...well, you just saw the results." He paused to find his bearings before continuing. "We got cut off prematurely, but you saw everything important. After using the Dragonballs to undo all the damage caused by Cell, we were preparing to wish my dad back...but he decided not too come back, said it would perhaps be better for the Earth if stayed gone this time. The only reason you got to see him today was because he was allowed one day back on earth and he chose today to come back, by noon tomorrow he'll be gone again." As he said this, Videl could see traces of pain leak into his eyes at the mentioning of his father.  
  
"Gohan, I..."  
  
"Anyways..." Gohan continued, cutting her off, knowing somewhat what she had planned to say beforehand. "...After that things pretty much settled down. The next seven years I spent studying mainly, in accordance with mom's wishes and all, before coming to Orange Star High. You know what happened from there." Obviously not wanting to talk about the situation with his father, she simply nodded in agreement. "Now you know about everything; me, my family, the Cell games, I gave you the truth. Now, knowing what you do...how do you feel?" Gohan seemed to grow increasingly nervous with every second that pasted without a response from the quite petite girl in front of him. With her head down, all the saiyan teen could manage to see as he moved to stand before her was a silky dark mop of hair. "Videl?" The motion was so quick that Gohan didn't even register it until it happened. As he leaned down to get a clearer look at her face, Videl moved forward, wrapping her arms tightly around his strong neck before placing a small kiss on his left cheek before laying her head in the crook of his neck against his chest. Not knowing what else to do, Gohan wrapped his arms around her back and held Videl close to him as he sighed in contentment. "I take it this means you don't mind that I'm an alien," Gohan question in light humor. Videl responded in turn by pulling away just enough to look him in the eye.  
  
"Gohan...you have no idea how much it means to me; to know that you feel you can confide in me so much, thank you." Having said her piece, Videl reached up and softly kissed Gohan's lip in which he responded accordingly. Reluctantly pulling away, Gohan stared down into a pair of eyes full of love and trust, eyes that were for him and no one else.  
  
"So...I take it this means we're officially together?" Gohan smirked lightly at his own rhetorical question. How she managed it he's never know, but seeing the seductive smile that soon crossed her face was more then enough answer for him.  
  
"What do you think?" He would have loved to continue this friendly little exchange of theirs, but judging by the fading rays of citrus light radiating from the already set sun, it was time for them to go, lest they end up catching a cold. A small nip in the air could already be felt buy the sensitive saiyan's sense of touch.  
  
"I 'think' we should get going, otherwise we might catch something."  
  
"Well I'm ready when you are." She emphasized this by tightening her grip around his neck, not enough to hurt, just to hang on. Refastening his own grip around her, Gohan raised his ki shield around the both of them before gradually levitating off the ground, leveling off at a safe height, he began taking off towards Capsule Corp. slowly before increasing to a faster speed, and like a shot they were off, disappearing into the darkening night.  
  
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Coming into a landing upon the Capsule Corp. lawn, the newly formed couple made their way to the front door. Sensing everyone's ki signatures gathered in the living room, they made their way in to join them. Gohan immediately sensed a light air about the room, but was clueless as to what it was until Goku stepped out of the crowd towards them, clearly pleased about something. "Hey Gohan guess what...I'm back, isn't that great?" Clearly beyond confused as to what he was talking about, Gohan looked up above his father's head, but saw only air...his halo was gone.  
  
End Chapter 8  
  
Author's Notes: "Greeting everyone, I know it's been a while since the last chapter, but I'm happy to say that I'm finally done with the 'Gohan tells his life story' segment, and that the next chapter will contain much of the info I'm sure most of you have been dying to read. In the next chapter Shadow will finally shed some light on the issues of what a Dark Knight Warrior is, the true powers that be, some of the powers that both he and Gohan have recently displayed, as well as a few other little surprises. However I'm afraid that you'll have to wait a little while before production of this chapter gets underway. With the lack of attention that I've been paying recently to the rest of my stories, I've decided to temporarily put Love and War on the shelf until I've managed to update the rest of my stories on FanFiction.Net and one story that won't be posted on FanFiction.Net. With this in mind, it'll be at least a few months before I restart production on L&W, maybe even longer; it all depends on how long it takes me to update my other stories. In the meantime though, please continue to review, and encourage other readers to review as well, unless you write, you have no idea how much it means to us authors to receive feedback fro the readers. If you want to be kept up to date on this, or any of my other stories, consider perhaps adding my name to your Author's Alert file, that way you'll be alerted the second I post or update anything. So, until next time my friends, fellow authors, and dear readers, farewell and adieu."  
  
ADVERTISMENT:: If you liked this story or am a simple fan of anime, then check out my other fanfiction stories on my author's page; Gundam Wing 'Old Love, New Love' and 'The Pain and Joy of Love'. In addition to these are my Tenchi Muyo fic 'Rainy Day Lover' and it's sequel 'Lovers Revealed' Finally is my newest, a Yu-Gi-Oh fic involving a pairing as rare as Exodia itself, Joey/Ishizu. I can assure you that any of these five stories make for a decent read and have been labeled as so by other readers. 


	11. Intermission and Letter to the Readers

FROM THE DESK OF S. S. SHADOW

Greetings fellow writers and readers, as you can obviously see, no I did not die, nor did I forget this fic or it's loyal followers. I have however had a number of setbacks and delays plague my return to writing, some both planned and unplanned as well. I did what I set out to do in terms of updating one of my current fics, while also getting the ball rolling on the third installment of my Tenchi Muyo Rainy Day Lover series (Tenchi/Kiyone pairing for all you T/K lovers out there). It still won't be out for a while, but at least it's in production.

The Odd Couple (my first and possibly only YuGiOh fic, a Joey/Ishizu pairing) has been updated like I originally intended, and though I have the remaining chapters written out in summarized form, won't be typed up for a little while, but will be completed eventually.

However, back to Love and War. After an extended Hiatus, I'm jumping back into the field with both feet forward, and while I still may not update at a fast pace (especially with the next chapter, considering how important it is to the story). Setbacks such as the death of a very close family friend in the past year, studying for a couple of college programs, as well as searching for a new job among other things have set back my mental and emotional dedication to the art of writing. I won't even fathom writing another chapter of anything if I can't put 100 into it, period. Fortunately for you the readers, (and unfortunately for me) I injured my knee just recently so I have to go easy on it. That, in addition to the newest surge of ambition and interest recently discovered, has led to the revitalization of project Love and War: an S. S. Shadow production.

So prepare yourself, chapter 9 is coming, and though it's arrival may be delayed slightly by the amount of content, as well as my desire to make each writing the best I can, when it finally arrives, I highly doubt that you'll be disappointed.

Thank you for your time, and I hope to see and/or hear from you (review) with my next update.

ADVERTISMENT:: If you liked this story or am a simple fan of anime, then check out my other fanfiction stories on my author's page; Gundam Wing 'Old Love, New Love' and 'The Pain and Joy of Love'. In addition to these are my Tenchi Muyo fic 'Rainy Day Lover' and it's sequel 'Lovers Revealed' Finally is my newest, a Yu-Gi-Oh fic involving a pairing as rare as Exodia itself, Joey/Ishizu. I can assure you that any of these five stories make for a decent read and have been labeled as so by other readers.


	12. Chapter IX: Where It All Began Pt 1

Love and War

Chapter 9 of ?

Disclaimer: I herby declare that I DO NOT own any of the characters presented in this story. They are the sole property of their rightful owners. I do however own the plot for this story. I do this for no financial gain whatsoever. I do this for the sole purpose to entertain you, and myself.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

(SC) scene change

A momentary disturbance in the current of air circulating around the front lawn of the Capsule Corp. building was all that occurred to announce the incoming swirl of dark energy as a portal appeared. Stepping out of the churning mass of black light, Shadow paused to take in his surroundings before stepping to the side so that everyone in the group undoubtedly following him wouldn't end up running into him. Bulma exited first, followed shortly by the rest of the gang with Master Roshi bringing up the rear. Dismissing the opening from sight, Shadow, though a bit reluctant, joined everyone else as Bulma motioned for them to all follow her inside. The front lawn in broad daylight as well as being within hearing distance of possibly anyone on the premises certainly wasn't anyone's idea of an ideal spot in which to discuss the matter at hand.

(SC)

Five minutes later found the party in it's entirety situated in various parts of the living room, allowing their significant others as well as the kids use the couch and chairs present, the men of the group chose to stand nearby, even Vegeta who normally would just sulk in a nearby corner, was alert and at attention, waiting for an explanation to all the madness witnessed in one afternoon. Their guest in question was simply standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed, legs spread, and head bowed with his eyes closed in thought. "Well?" Vegeta asked gruffly, "Are you just going to talk, or just stand there like a fool?" Shadow cracked an eye in irritation at the impatient prince. Glaring, he turned to address the mass.

"Alright then, what do you want to know first? Shadow replied in a dangerously calm tone. "How an evil so dangerous, it would rupture your frail little minds, is approaching Earth even as we speak? That right now even your combined efforts at this point, would amount to enough for him to even bad an eye in your direction? An edge of danger worked its way into his intonation. "Perhaps maybe the idea that what you think you know about your minor little existence, doesn't even amount to the tip of what you would call an iceberg. Instead of doing what most would consider the smart thing and keeping quiet, Vegeta decided to do quite the opposite and open his mouth again.

"How dare you speak to me like that, do you know who I am? I'm…"

"Yes I know who you are, you're an overgrown spoiled brat of a prince, who thinks he rules over a saiyan race consisting of only 4 members, only one of which is a full blood. You think you can get everything you want by demanding it from people or threatening them in one form or another." Vegeta was unconsciously stepping back slowly as their dark guest stood over him by almost two heads height. "Well I'm a saiyan, and looking at who you are, I'll never bow before you. If you think you're little intimidation tactics are going to work on me, I'll be more then pleased to prove you wrong, any questions?" To say the royal saiyan was shocked would be an understatement. He was downright thunderstruck. Nobody had dared to ever speak in such a way to him, much less outright challenge him without repercussions. The room waited with baited breath as both warriors tried to stare each other down. Surprisingly Vegeta broke first and looked away with a small humph. "That's what I thought, now shut up before I shut you up." Before another word could be said, the dark saiyan spoke again, this time addressing all who were present. "Listen up everyone, cause I won't repeat myself. Under normal circumstances, I would never show myself in person, nor divulge any of the information that you're about to hear, however at this rate, and the current state of things, it seems best to do otherwise. I've come to warn you and enlist your aide, for my benefit as much as yours, if not more, that somehow your help might increase my chances of success…and yours of survival."

"If this new threat is so big, why didn't the Supreme Kai say anything about it?" Piccolo questioned with a curious air.

"If I had been aware of the danger I would have warned you myself." Having managed to pop in unnoticed, everyone with the exception of Shadow was caught off guard as Shin and Kibito appeared seemingly from nowhere. Shin was being supported lightly by his guardian after being healed from his encounter with Majin Buu.

"Hmm, glad you could make it, as I've made it clear how I hate to repeat myself." Shadow then motioned for them both in before he continued. "He's right however, this goes far beyond Shin's powers and status as a Kai, but seeing as how he is for lack of a better term, the highest authority in this dimension, second to myself, I felt it proper for him to be here as well." Goku took this chance to interrupt.

"What could be above Shin, he's the Supreme Kai." As soon as the words left the clueless fighter's mouth, Shadow laughed loud and deep in a sarcastic, near mocking tone before calming down to the puzzled stares of his present company.

"I needed that." Clearing his throat and setting his face back in its neutral pose. "You honestly believe that everything that exists in and around you leads only as high as the Supreme Kai, that there's nothing more, all of you?" Meeting only blank and increasingly unsure gazes, his face turned grim. "I see, you've got a lot to learn if you're to of any help to me."

As he spoke, a deep blue mist, darkening with every passing second, seeped through the cracks and crevices, filling the room from the floor up. At this point he sighed tiredly, running a hand through his hair. Looking up at his audience, Shadow gauged everyone's expressions, ranging from confusion, to mild fear, even to a small sense of intrigue. "Unfortunately that means exposing you to secrets that were never meant to be revealed outside of my particular circle. What you are about to see is real, hard to believe, but real nonetheless, so keep you mouth shut, and your mind open." He smiled mischievously as the building mist around them rose up over everyone in a tidal wave, drowning out their surprised gasps, and whisking them from sight. "Now, lets begin," he tittered with mirth as the sea of mist rose up one more time to sweep over him, vacating the room of it's final occupant, before dissipating into thin air.

(SC)

Stars, an entire expansion of space composed of nothing but stars, planets, nebulas, gateways to other galaxies, and even some things that couldn't be explained to even the simplest of minds. These sights and more engulfed the vast, otherwise emptiness of space as everyone gathered; men and women, fighters and bystanders, otherwise known as the Z-fighters, their respective others, children, and even Kais alike groggily awoke from their haze induced stupor. Like the mist that had engulfed them before, every member of their unique group responded in their own manner. The chibis stared in awe as they reach out, in hopes that they might have been capable of actually touching one of the sparkling beauties around them. Bulma and Chi-Chi who seemed to shift closer to their significant others, nervous to the appearance of nothing solid above, below or around them, yet at the same time, the feeling of solidness under their feet. As for said saiyans and their warrior allies, the presence of deep space left little to wonder in appearance, except perhaps to those unfortunate, or perhaps fortunate in some cases, to have never visited outside the atmosphere of Earth. Still, the silence was deafening, no sound was forthcoming; not even the barest whisper of breath could be heard for the entirety of the group. Once this little detail was discovered, fear began to transpire, and to the casual observer, the present scene might have better fit one of the now long gone silent movies that were once adored by theatergoers of old. This made the statement that followed so much louder.

"Ah, everyone has arrived, and with no ill effect from the mist as well, excellent." Shadow spoke with a murmur, yet his voice shattered the stillness like mallet on a pane of glass. He looked on with a touch amusement as everyone jumped to some degree to find him floating 20 or so yards behind him, and then tried to yell or complain to him about what was happening, oblivious to the fact that their voices were no longer present. His amusement soon gave way to seriousness. "I won't keep you in suspense anymore, after all, time is of the essence, for all of us." The dark warrior made a sweeping gesture of the space around them with his arms. "This is small portion of what I represent, and am sworn to protect, all that you see is but a mere fragment of the whole that I have guarded for countless millennia, but once again I'm getting too far ahead of myself. As with any story, the best place to start is at the beginning…"

End of Chapter 9

Author's Notes: "Greeting everyone, first of all I'd like to say sorry, sorry I haven't been able to update faster, and sorry that this wasn't the mind blowing next chapter I was trying to prep you for, but I needed to get this out of the way so that I could focus solely on the telling of 'how it all began'. I will write all of it in the next chapter, but I wanted to get this up for a number of reasons. 1) To get the juices flowing again, 2) to throw all you loyal L&W fans out there a bone to gnaw on while waiting 3) To try and draw new readers to L&W, and 4) To shamelessly plug and advertise my other stories.

I'm trying to include all the characters involved up to this point, but don't be surprised if some of them fade in and out of the picture or disappear altogether except for maybe cameos here and there. Some just are not going to have that big a role in the story, least not yet. I'll see as the story develops, your reviews and opinions would help greatly in that area. Hopefully now that I've gotten this far I'll be able to continue and update sooner, which I will unless I get sidetracked by one of my other stories. I'm only going to get one chance to get this next chapter right so I want to take my time and make sure I do my best. In the meantime though, please continue to review, and encourage other readers to review as well, unless you write, you have no idea how much it means to us authors to receive feedback fro the readers. If you want to be kept up to date on this, or any of my other stories, consider perhaps adding my name to your Author's Alert file, that way you'll be alerted the second I post or update anything. So, until next time my friends, fellow authors, and dear readers, farewell and adieu."

ADVERTISMENT:: If you liked this story or are a simple fan of anime, then check out my other fanfiction stories on my author's page; Gundam Wing 'Old Love, New Love' and 'The Pain and Joy of Love'. In addition to these are my Tenchi Muyo fic 'Rainy Day Lover' and it's sequel 'Lovers Revealed', 'The Odd Couple', a Yu-Gi-Oh fic involving a pairing as rare as Exodia itself, Joey/Ishizu. Finally, my newest story; 'Gone, But Not Forgotten', a one-shot bit for Tenchi Muyo involving yet again my favorite TM couple, course I won't say it and ruin the surprise. I can assure you that any of these five stories make for a decent read and have been labeled as so by other readers.


	13. Chapter X: Where It All Began Pt 2

Love and War

Chapter 10 of ?

Disclaimer: I herby declare that I DO NOT own any of the characters presented in this story. They are the sole property of their rightful owners. I do however own the plot for this story. I do this for no financial gain whatsoever. I do this for the sole purpose to entertain you, and myself.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

(SC) Scene change

Goku groaned softly as the haze in his mind cleared and his eyes came back into focus. Rubbing his head as he sat up, the clueless saiyan stared at his surroundings which consisted of darkness, and more blank, empty, darkness, yet at the same time a seemingly source less illumination allowed him to see everything around him… nothing. "Wow, where am I, what hit me?"

"A massive burst of telekinetic energy focused directly on the core of your cerebellum, or simply put, my mind." Goku looked above him to see a now familiar face with medium length dark brown hair staring down at him from a little more then ten feet in the air.

"Shadow!" Said face then began floating downwards before flipping forward once and leveling off just shy of being eye level with Goku. Coils of darkness seemed to ripple in unison around the dark warrior's face before slowing to a stop. Like stepping through a veil, Shadow's form materialized from seemingly nothing, his dark attire making him stand out, even against an endless backdrop.

"Hello Goku."

"What's going on, where am I, where is everybody?" Shadow remained neutral at the panicky nature that the childlike saiyan was displaying.

"Quite the inquisitive one aren't you, a rather foreign situation for you isn't it? As for your questions, you wanted answers so I'm going to enlighten you; you're actually within the depths of my mind, so that I can more or less give form to my words as I explain things to you; and as for the others, they're in a similar position to you. I've isolated each of them into separate groups, each of whom are as we speak, receiving a slightly altered or watered down version of what I'm about to show you. It wouldn't very well do to show the little ones images meant for battle-hardened warriors like us. "Satisfied, cause if so I'd really like to get on with this; and then get back to the real world."

"You've got my attention," Goku replied, a bit more pensive then previous. Shadow nodded, pleased with his response. Turning on his heel, Shadow paced twenty or so yards away from his companion before turning back to face him once more.

"Alright then, the first thing you need to do, is to forget everything you thought you knew about the world around you, about your very existence. Up until this point you've obviously believed that Shin, or the Supreme Kai as you call him, was at the top of the food chain in the ladder of everything that exists around you. You believe that beyond death simply lays a second realm, so easily divided into two plains, one good, one bad, with no lingering concept as to how all this could have come to be. My existence, as well as what I represent proves these beliefs to be false, I am much more then you could initially imagine."

Raising his hands before his chest and then cupping them together, a tiny speck of white light appeared from nowhere, and steadily began to grow in his hands. "This, is the true source of all that exists, in your own world, mine, and beyond." When the glowing orb of pulsing light reached the size of a larger then average basketball, it began floating out of his hands and straight up into the air to hover a rough 30 feet in the air. "While only being a scale model of its true size, it's sufficient for the matter at hand, now watch."

Looking up at the suspended ball of light, Goku watched as it pulsed once, twice, three times, before seemingly exploding in a shower of energy, blinding him as raw power washed over everything before it in waves. When it was all over, Goku blinked a few times to dispel the number of rapidly declining spots from his eyes. Looking around him, the darkness previously engulfing him was literally littered with billions of twinkling, glittering stars, each representing a sun in it's own little solar system. It was as if someone had thrown multiple handfuls of diamond dust upon an expansive inkblot surface. "Now watch closely, or you might miss it."

As the two saiyans stood before one another in silence, time seemed to stand still, minutes dragged on for what felt like hours, and with Goku getting tired of what seemed like nothing happening around them, he saw it. It being nothing to the casual eye, but to one looking for it, tiny, insignificant particles of dust were slowly floating to and fro between them. The stars fell out of focused as the honed warrior's eyes fell to the limitless molecules of debris floated aimlessly through space, before one by one, they began to collide with one another, gaining speed as well as mass.

Time picked up and in moments, mountains of rock, bubbling with spewing lava born from the heat trapped within the core of each gargantuan, covering and fertilizing itself, baptizing itself in fire, and blessing it's surfaces with what would become life giving minerals and matter, formed the first planets of the first solar system. Off in the distance, meteors and comets streaked across the heavens in a brilliant display, each searching the galaxy till they may one day become part of a planet or moon as well.

Millenniums pasted in an instant, new stars were born as old ones died, each one exploding, giving birth to a black hole in its wake, galaxies opened up as everything that one might expect to see in space, and even some unexpected came to be, and at the center of it all, that same globe of light shone down upon them, and everything within sight of the human eye and into the unknown.

Goku gazed upon everything around him as if seeing I for the first time in all their glory. Knowing that somewhere out there, everywhere in fact, life was beginning and ending, and that he was at the center of it all, by Kami, if bearing witness to the birth of a new life was deemed beautiful, then only one word could even start to describe the miracle that was this great creation. "Magnificent."

Shadow stood aside and listened to that one word fall from his companion's lips, his eyes shining with innocence that was simply Goku. Walking up behind him, Shadow placed his hand on the other's left shoulder as they shared the scenery before them. "Quite the view isn't it? It keeps extending you know, the universe in its entirety is never ending, without boundaries. You could travel near and far till the end of time itself and never reach the farthest extents." Goku glanced up at the everlasting source of pure energy above them.

"That little thing created all of this?" Goku asked, gesturing to everything around them. The barest hint of a smile graced Shadow's face as he took in everything with awe.

"It's done much more then that young warrior. What you see before you is simply your own universe, your own dimension. Would you believe that the release of energy you saw gave birth to not only your own dimension, but also hundreds of others? All of which contain one of everything in yours. Each one has their own Goku, planet Earth, even their own plane of afterlife. I believe you call yours Otherworld. Seeing the low amount of disbelief in his eyes, Shadow floated around to face Goku before gliding backwards as if puppet strings held him, the universe fading to black around them. "It's true Goku, for every dimension that exists, there exists one of you, as well as everyone else in this dimension, in one way or another." As he spoke, an exact doppelganger of Goku appeared beside the dark saiyan, clad in the same traditional orange gi, bearing the same Son grin that he was famous for.

"In some worlds you could still be no more then a mere child." In response to the dark warrior's words, the Goku clone shrunk and morphed to appear as Goku did when he first met his friend Bulma, decked out in both blue gi and condensed power pole. "In others you might simply be a common human." The child behind him grew and his skin became slightly paler, losing its light bronze sheen, the battle clothes he favored almost religiously disappeared, and in their place were a simple blue jeans and white tee shirt combo, topped off with a simple pair of white running sneakers.

"In others, you simply don't exist, you've ether died already or have yet to be born." The hologram behind him waved briefly before shimmering out of site. "The possibilities are quite endless. As I mentioned before however, you are what we like to call Goku Prime, the one whom every other dimension's Goku is based off of in one way or another. The same can be said for every other living and non-living thing in your dimension." Shadow paused for a moment after his visual disappeared before starting again. "Lets move on."

Raising a hand to snap his fingers, the astrological world around the two of them was vacuumed up into the light sphere before winking out of existence. Basking in their black and empty state briefly, ribbons of blazing color, most light in nature, began to swirl and intertwine forming a new scene around them. Once firmly established, the two men found themselves staring at one another while standing on one of the curves forming Snake Way as the boundless yellow clouds below separated them and the rest of Otherworld from the Home for Infinite Losers. Goku looked around, puzzled as to why they were here, but remained silent, remembering that his guide would explain everything when he was ready.

"I've already shown you how everything was created, now it's time for you to see how different some things truly are. I felt the best example of this would be ones concept of the afterlife, since you seem to have so much experience in that particular field." Shadow spread his arms out and made a complete turn once while acknowledging the world around them. "All of this, you consider all this to be your concept of what happens to someone when they die. I'll tell you what though, it's all an illusion, an illusion made real because everyone believes it to be so, every dimension has a different one, I know, I've seen them. You're all lucky you received the one you did, it could have been worse, much worse." At this mentioning, Goku managed to looked nervous and a bit uneasy.

"How much worse could it be?" No sooner did the words leave his mouth before everything began to change again. Bracing himself for the worse, Goku was pleasantly surprised when the very opposite of what he was expecting happened.

The long winding trail known as Snake Way vanished beneath his feet, leaving him to fall to the clouds below. Unable to catch himself in time to levitate, the free-spirited saiyan prepared to fall below the barrier, only to end up plopping down upon the clouds that by now had turn a pristine white. Probing the fluffiness beneath his fingertips, it all felt cool to the touch. What seemed to be solid appeared as a mix of fog and mist, whisking around his hand as he moved it back and forth by his side.

The sound of a distant melody reached his ear. Raising his head towards the source of such a heartening sound, the view that greeted Goku was incapable of a justifiable description. Surrounding him on all sides, were boundless piles of clouds in all shapes and sizes, but the occupants of this newly discovered paradise were what caught the warrior's attention immediately.

Everywhere he looked, thousands upon thousands of people, both human and non-human, were moving around without a care to be found. Each individually dressed in an attire of white suited to fit their needs, three things were shared between everyone present; a halo of gold hovering above their heads, resembling his own exactly, a pair of large, but not oversized wings protruding from between their shoulder blades, glowing with an almost holy light, and the final thing, making the humble saiyan's heart swell with joy, was looking at the smile and serene expressions gracing the faces of every heavenly resident.

Still captivated by the music in the air, Goku stood and began following the sound until hw found himself standing before a young woman of medium build with dark hair, strumming softly on a lyre resting in her lap. Plucking a few more notes, she struck the last chord and paused, letting the sound resonate to stillness. Tilting her head up to face the astonished saiyan, he gazed into her soft gray eyes and smiled as he applauded her enthusiastically, but as all good things must come to an end, so too must paradise.

It started with a single drop from nowhere, red crimson splattered sharply against the hem of her robe as both angel and saiyan stared down upon it, one in sadness and one in confusion. Lifting her head to look at him, the fair-haired woman and the puzzled warrior stared at one another. Caught in her eyes, he recoiled in horror when orbs of bliss dilated to the head of a pin, and a mouth with full thin lips opened wide, silent at first, but was followed by an unearthly wail, the likes of which only the darkest of hell born nightmares should ever harbor. Falling backwards onto his posterior, Goku scuttled backwards much like a crab, unable to break eye contact, he watched in mute terror as the beauty before him began transforming into a beast. Healthy porcelain skin began darkening to an ashen gray, onyx tresses of silk drying and shriveling up to mere strands of salt n' pepper before falling out and floating to rest at her feet, eyes that before held so much life were now shallow and sunken, overall a mere shade of her former glory.

The first one arrived with a low whistle off in the distance, followed by another, and then another, closer and closer they struck, until the heavens around them were ablaze, bombarded by hellfire and brimstone. The scent of sulfur overwhelmed his sensitive nostrils as the surface beneath him cracked and splintered, spreading out in every direction, steam hissed out from every earthen pore. Everywhere the now terrified warrior managed to look, gore and carnage reigned. Every angel that he had seen previously was now ether impaled multiple times, crucified while this new world's version of demonic ogres mercilessly tore off their blood smeared wings, or in the process of being tortured beyond the boundaries of sanity.

He was no stranger to death, being both the recipient and deliverer of such a fate, it was hardly a new concept, but everyone that perished by his hand had more then deserved it. What he was witnessing now, this massacre of innocence was more then the empathetic saiyan could bear. Bending his knees to his chest, Goku clamped his hands over his ears in an attempt to block out the screams echoing around him in every direction. Tilting his head down against his knees, tears streamed effortlessly from eyes clenched shut, down and over pale cheeks to the edge of a trembling chin where they fell to the smoldering pavement, drip by drip. As his innocence was being ripped from his soul, a cold and clammy hand settled upon his shoulder… and Goku screamed aloud.

(SC)

The terrified saiyan pulled away from the hand that fell upon his shoulder. Struggling with labored breaths, Goku spun to his feet to face a stoic Shadow with his hand now lying absently at his side. Waiting for most of the trembling to subside, he spoke with only a vague quake in his voice. "What was that?"

"That is exactly how both good and bad some things can be in other worlds." Goku just shook his head in disbelief.

"It was horrible, how can such a place exist?" Shadow simply frowned at the question.

"The vile and damned souls of those who have come and gone deserve no less then the worse that can be created for them." Goku said nothing, but stared at his host with mixed feelings. "Lets continue." Watching him drift backwards a reasonable distance, Goku notice that everything that had previously existed around him was gone. In its placed he found himself sitting atop a small mound in a bare meadow, a rolling river to his left and a small cluster of saplings sparsely covering the landscape to his right.

"What are we doing here?" The slight displacement of air served as his only warning as a fireball the size of a baseball flew over his head, almost lighting his hair on fire. Throwing his hand s over his head protectively, Goku look at Shadow in shock as wisps of smoke flickered from his glove, he seemed almost amused, if only for a moment at the taller saiyan's shock "Hey, what was that for?"

"That," the dark saiyan stated "Is the subject of our next discussion." He reasserted his impassive yet imposing stance. "You wanted to know how your son Gohan and I do some of the things that we've done since arriving here, so now I'm going to tell you…to an extent." Shifting his hips sideways while sliding his left leg back slightly to brace himself, Shadow slowly raised his fist so that is was level with his chest, staring at it with a narrowed eyes, he shifted his gaze to meet that of the fidgeting warrior across from him, freezing him in place.

Goku stood there unnaturally quiet as he watched, waiting for something to happen. When all his companion did was shift backwards and raise up his fist he was about to comment when those piercing black eyes met his before flashing crimson once, twice, and finally a third time. From out of nowhere a small updraft seemed to form under the dark fighter, like he was powering up, but Goku couldn't feel a rise in his ki, almost the opposite, if anything it seemed like a few grains of internal power had tapered off. That's when he noticed the twin bands of red energy imbedded in the ground beneath him, circling Shadow while emitting soft pulses of some form of energy he didn't recognize. Numerous spheres of red light the size of a common garden pea rapidly rose up around him in the form of a cylinder, disappearing after rising to a certain height along with the encompassing double ringlet circle.

The saiyan earth dweller looked around, wondering where all the energy had gone to that he had just seen, not needing to wait long his attention shifted back to Shadow as the spheres of energy flashed back into existence before firing into his enclosed fist like thousands of tiny needles, until his fist began to glow a faint scarlet. Extending his arm forward while opening his hand, palm facing up, the energy he gathered rose in the form of a ball about half a yard above his hand before hovering, as if waiting for a command. Goku stared at its outer edges, now identified as blazing flames, danced wildly around their core. He waited for something else to happen but when all the ball did was hover in place he just scratched his head lightly. "Is that all?"

Had he not learned to control his emotions so long ago, the fire-bearing fighter would have fallen over from the insult, however unintentional, directed at his ability. Settling for a sour grimace, Shadow's frown turned into a small smirk as he whirled his palm, fingers splayed facing outward in Goku's direction like the crack of a whip, before uttering a single word almost to soft for even his fellow saiyan to hear. "Fireball."

Unprepared for what was happening, Goku's eyes widened in shock as a volley of five fireballs equal in size to the one in Shadow's hand shot out from the single sphere's core and launched themselves at him followed by the core itself. Managing to dodge the first two with only singes to his clothes, he evaded the remaining three before destroying the core with a well-placed ki blast of his own. Tensing at the unexpected need of exertion he stared incredulously at what Shadow had just done in the span of less then a minute. "What was that…how did you do that?"

"First of all, that was an example of one of the many ways to use what can best be described as elemental energy. Like the name suggests, its energy is derived from the very elements themselves."

"That's why your power level didn't rise, you weren't using your energy to begin with were you?" Shadow inclined his head at the statement.

"Yes and no." Seeing the question in his eyes, the dark knight continued. "Yes, in that I didn't use my ki to create what you saw, but also no due to my need to contribute a small fraction of my own ki into getting the process started."

"So that…fireball…it was your ki?" Shadow groaned at the other's apparent inability to grasp the concept of what he was trying to explain in simplest terms.

"No. Okay, lets try a different approach. I want you to gather a ball of ki energy into your hand and just hold it there." Following orders, Goku did as he was instructed. "Good, now what you have there is a portion of your own energy, pure and simple. As you know everything that exists has it's own share of energy in different amounts, from a single drop of rain, to the largest of living creatures. The biggest thing to both know and remember, is that while we as living organic creatures, be it single a cell ameba or a complex multi-celled human, possess the purest form of energy, it only has a single base form, the result of which is in your hand now."

Waving his hand, Shadow dispelled the ki in Goku's hand. "We can manipulate it to do many things, ranging from large scale ki blasts like your Kamehameha Wave, to increasing our natural abilities such as speed, strength, and agility to name a few. However those are its limits, heightening senses and blowing things up more or less. The ranges of elemental energies however are wide and vast, but at the same time can be both dangerous and unstable." He walked back and took his place across from Goku once again.

"How can you control them so well if they're so dangerous?" Goku asked, from what he had been told just now it sounded like these energies were impossible to harness, much less use.

"Who said anything about controlling them?" Shadow demanded. "You control NOTHING when dealing with the elements. Only a fool, or one blind and drunk with power would ever harbor a notion of exerting their will over the forces of nature themselves. Such attempts fail, and with most unpleasant results." He paused a minute to recover from his unexpected outburst.

"Nobody can completely control the elements Goku, the pathetic attempts by the people of this planet are proof of that. What I do is coax, mold, and in some cases slightly manipulate them." Raising the gloved palm of his left hand up again, Shadow formed a globe of ki the size of a golf ball. The key to it all though, is our own energy; its what starts the process. You can't just reach out and snatch elemental energy out of the blue, it's an independent source of power completely separate from what we generate. In order to use the power of the elements, first you have to connect with it." He held his mini ki ball up to emphasize it.

"Energy is energy, whether natural or artificial, and like two magnets are continuously drawn to and interacting with one another. With the body serving as an anchor for your own energy, you use it to connect to that of the elements around you and then concentrate on drawing it in, much like a black hole sucks in everything around it, watch."

Focusing the same way he did with the fireball, both saiyans watched for a second ignoring the small wind storm that picked up, before dust-sized particles of emerald energy began filtering into existence from every direction briefly before getting sucked into the ki sphere, gradually turning it an equal shade of green.

"That's how you coax out the energy you want to use. You can only use one complete element at a time, and the more ki that you push into its creation, the more powerful your spell can become. If left to grow too much though, you can lose control and risk being destroyed by it, for now this will suffice. Even if you pushed all of your energy into a single spell it will all return to you eventually. You following me so far?" Watching him nod he continued.

"Next you need to mold the raw power into something that you can use. What I did with the fireball was easy in that I simply took the element itself as it was and threw it at you. The element of air, represented by the color green is different. By itself and in such a small quantity, this little pocket of air can't do much, but by infusing and manipulating it with a bit more of your own ki the results can be explosive." Selecting a nearby sampling as his target, Shadow aimed carefully. "AeroBlaster!"

A miniature boom engulfed the area as the now unleashed air elemental roared forward, tearing the small tree out of the ground by it's roots before splintering into pieces as it was cut down by the sonic blast of pulsing energy. "Well?"

Goku, who had been covering his ears so as not to go deaf, stood amazed at this most recent display of power. "Amazing, a little ball of wind did all that?" He looked back at Shadow, eagerness now showing clearly. "Are there more elements, what can they do, will you show me?" Shadow held his hands up to stall the wave of questions his saiyan companion was asking.

"I don't have time to show you everything, but I'll give you a basic rundown of the elemental scale as I've come to view it." Clapping his hands together, he pulled them apart and floating between them in a straight line were now four glowing balls, each of a different color; green, red, blue, and yellow. "These colors represent the four basic elements in which all else stems from, you have green for air, red for fire, blue for water, and finally yellow for earth and strange as it may seem, lightening. How the last one is possible even I don't know, nor do I question it. Now here's something you don't know."

Flicking his wrist in a circular motion before slicing the air down the middle, the four orbs rotated clockwise in a vertical circle once before pausing to split in half. One half of each color become multiple shades darker before floating to Shadow's left while the remaining halves became considerably lighter in hue and drifted to his right. "Every element has a dark aspect and an equally light one. Think of them as the good and evil of elemental energy."

"How can an element be both good and bad though? Goku interrupted. Shadow stared at him with a look that asked him if he was serious. Getting no response from the taller saiyan, he sighed.

"In nature and in everyday life, the elements serve any number of functions. With fire for example, the same flame that may cook a meal for a family during the day could, even by accident, burn down their house that night with them still in it. A man who is dying of thirst could be saved with a simple canteen of water, but in the same breath could choke and die from it should enough slip into his lungs, effectively drowning him. The same goes for the other two as well, and these are just a couple of the ways that the elements could be used, both for good and evil, understand?"

"So it's just a matter of how you use them?"

"Exactly, any one of them could be used to give life or take it in one way or another, just as it can both create and destroy." Summoning the halves on both sides to his hands, the four on his left melted together to form an orb of cold ebony, while the remaining four on his right melted and reformed to create and equally sized orb of blinding ivory.

Shadow palmed both orange shaped balls in his outstretched hands before addressing Goku. "These light and dark energies are gathered the same way as I showed you before, except that instead of focusing of just gathering the element, you need to concentrate harder to extract only the light or darkness of said element." He let the energy spheres fade from his hands.

"Though nether the light nor the dark are pure elements themselves, they are still more powerful then any of the four elements, because unlike the limited availability of the elements themselves, the light and the dark are limitless and can be summoned from any and all elements, even from all four at once if one so wishes." He ignored Goku's sharp intake of breath as he realized the implications of such power.

"That is why both pure black and white spells are the strongest that exists. They can do the greatest amount of either good or bad. Unlike regular elemental spells though, the drain on one's own ki reserves are greater because of both the degree of focus one need to summon such specific power, and the fact that you can draw it from up to four extremely large sources at once." He waited as he watched Goku finish taking in all that he had said.

"Congratulations, you've just completed Elemental Spell-crafting 101, any questions, no, good, then lets press on." Before Goku could breath a word in edgewise, the world around then faded once more before he blacked out.

(SC)

When he stirred again, Goku found himself lounging in a plush easy chair, upholstered with red satin over a deep mahogany frame. The walls around him were lined with bookshelves piled high with various volumes of literature, extending to the side he was currently facing. In the middle of the remaining wall rested what seemed to be a well-worn, stone-enclosed fireplace that reached up to the ceiling and beyond. A large but almost silent fire burned brightly upon crackling logs within its hearth, bathing the room with a warm glow.

Having surveyed the room, the next thing Goku came to notice was that except for his orange gi, the remainder of his clothing, namely his weighted training apparel had disappeared. A light chorus of classical music had been playing throughout the room since he awoke, but he paid it no mind as it had a rather calming effect on his nerves that had been severely tested as of late. Overall the entire room and its accompanying atmosphere seem to be something straight out of Masterpiece Theater, he settled back into the chair with a sigh of comfort as he closed his eyes.

"Comfy?" Goku sat up like a shot at the sound of the voice coming from only a few feet away from him. Calming slightly at the sight of only Shadow sitting in a chair identical to his, turned marginally towards the fire as to view it's beauty yet still facing him enough to hold his attention, he sank into the cushions again.

"I know I've said it already, but what are we doing here? It looks kind of normal, compared to everything else I mean." Taking a minute to really look at him, Goku noticed that somewhere between their latest transition, Shadow had actually changed his attire, even if it was only in their mental state. Gone were the cloak and armor, along with everything in between, and in their place was now a pair of heather gray, drawstring sweatpants, topped off with a simple cinnamon colored sweater. Slightly disheartening was the fact that despite the wardrobe change, the solemn saiyan retained his stiff and impassive demeanor, though if one were to look for it, they might have noticed the small semblance of weariness in his eyes as he spoke.

"I find that some things are best discussed in a more relaxed atmosphere, and for the next few minutes I'll take any comfort I can find." Goku stared at him with concern.

"What's wrong?" Shadow watched the fire for a few minutes before turning to look at him.

"You asked me before, what I am, how I can do the things I do, where I came from? All reasonable questions, and each one attached to a story longer then what you need to know, I'm serving notice to you now, everything I tell you or anyone else from here on in, is on a need to know basis, understand?" He waited for his taller companion to nod in compliance before beginning.

"Okay then, remember at the beginning when I showed you how everything was created, that massive energy force which all was born from, including the elements I displayed earlier? What if I told you that that force was sentient?" Goku scratched his head.

"Senti-what?"

"Sentient; alert, aware of itself. It was conscious of itself and its surroundings. After it created the entire known universe, it came to a realization. With its boundaries continuously growing, this essence realized the need for a way to watch over everything it created. This led to the creation of the four elements, as well as both the light and the dark from which all things stem from in one way or another. Six aspects of raw power, created to balance each other out; fire & water, earth & air, finally light & dark."

"Course, without hosts to house their power, the elements were nothing but free floating energy, so after searching every corner of every dimension that existed at the time, they finally found hosts that were deemed both worthy and capable of wielding their power by the ultimate origin as I like to call it, elevating the chosen six to the status of, for lack of a better word, deities."

"Who'd they use?" Goku interrupted.

"Who or what they chose is irrelevant, all that matters is that they did." He paused a minute before restarting. "After taking possession of their hosts, these six deities were ordered by this ultimate origin to seek out others, ones that could be taught how to control the forces of nature, in hopes that as the universe continued to grow and spread, the ranks of those chosen would follow, and with the abilities taught to them by these six elder gods, would help maintain order and balance in nature, to serve as guardians. This was the beginning of the Dark Knight Warriors.

"You see Goku, this is how it basically works, think of the chain of command as if it were a ladder. At the very top resides the ultimate origin, creator of all. Below it are the six elder gods who answer only to the origin. Each of them represents the physical embodiment of an element granted to them by the origin."

"Now here's where it gets interesting, imagine each deity choosing seven people for example to serve under them, said deity trains them to wield the elements like I've shown you. Now you have 42 chosen people to form the first level of Dark Knights. Each of these knights is given perhaps seven dimensions to lord over and guard as they see fit, so long as a balance is maintained. Each of these 42 warriors selects seven more candidates to train and gives them each a single dimension to protect. This creates a second level of Dark Knights, who in turn answer to the level one knight who selected them, who then answers to the deity that chose them. This process continues until there is one knight for every dimension." Shadow stopped as Goku raised his hand. "Yes?"

"Uh you lost me a bit back their." Shadow managed to stifle an inward groan.

"Look," he breathed exasperatedly. "I'll make it real simple, ball of light chooses six beings and gives them a portion of its power, making them gods. These six gods select and train six others. Those six take on apprentices of their own, and so on until there is one knight or guardian as some wish to be called, for every dimension. This is also helpful in the way that if one knight somewhere up the chain of command dies or is removed from service, however rare it is, then one of their six chosen is then selected to step up and fill their mentor's place. This continues on down that specific chain until the final position at the end of the line is filled and the ranks are complete again, understand now?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good, moving on then…"

"How is someone chosen to become one of these Dark Knight Warriors?" Shadow grumbled inaudibly a bit at being interrupted.

"Each one has something special that draws their eventual sires to them, whether it's their mind, a powerful aura, or maybe even a random selection. The exact reason is unknown."

"How were you selected Shadow? What were you doing." The room became suddenly quiet as said saiyan turned his gaze to the fire that continued to burn in the hearth and stared silently "Shadow?" It was less then a whisper when he answered.

"There was a battle…on Planet Vegeta, my home world, this however was in another time and dimension. I was no older then you see me now, I was returning from a mission to another solar system where I had been doing research for our people's technological department. I left behind a planet blooming with life and prosperity, at least to us it was, and came back weeks later to see fires blazing across it's surface and the sounds of battle filling the air… we were under attack."

The break in conversation that followed allowed him clear his head and reestablish his thoughts. "When I finally managed to land somewhere stable I left my space pod to assist in the fighting, but it was too late, almost everyone was already dead or dying. Whatever those…things, were, that attacked us, they weren't human, and I don't think they were even alive. Their power wasn't even half of mine in a relaxed state, but the sheer numbers were too overwhelming.

"Seeing everyone fall around me pushed me over the edge, I became a super saiyan for the first time that night. All I could think of as I was blowing them away left and right, was finding their leader and putting a stop to all this. I found their leader, or maybe I should say puppet-master with the way they all seemed to be guided in their actions, a while later, standing over the body of…of…someone very important to me."

Shadow ran a hand over his face, rubbing the bridge of his nose in the process. Goku for once wisely decided to remain quiet and not press the issue.

"That monster just stood there, shrouded in shadows, covering everything except those eyes, just pure violet hues staring back at me. Though I didn't know it at the time, I was about to take on a rouge Dark Knight. Naturally I was beaten rather quickly and was left to die with the rest of my race after they all left. Later on I awoke to find the ground littered with the corpses of hundreds of saiyans and…whatever those creatures were. The man who would eventually become my sire and mentor found me later that night. He offered me power and the means to crush those who did this to me. I took it without hesitation, and now, years later, and many miles of covered space trying to track them down, here I am."

Goku rolled his companion's explanation in his head for a minute before speaking. "So you think this rouge is heading towards Earth?"

"I don't think, I know. I've been tracking them for years, trying to predict their next move, and have concluded that in just under two years earth time, they'll arrive here and destroy what they can't salvage before moving onto their next target."

"So you came here to help us defend Earth?" Goku asked, one could sense the hope as he voiced his question, but was diminished significantly at Shadow's next statement.

"Don't delude yourself with ideas that I'm here to help you or this world Goku. I care nothing for you or this mud ball of a planet you inhabit. I've simply chosen this location to prepare for the war that's to come, and seek retribution against those who ruined my life."

"But you saved Gohan, saved me and Vegeta, and took out Buu. How can you say that you don't care?" The child-hearted fighter was beginning to worry about this new side of Shadow that was being displayed before him.

"Don't confuse kindness with opportunity and necessity. I saved Gohan because I was drawn to him and in doing such, saw that he had the makings of a great Dark Knight. He has the potential to become even greater then me, and I will do everything I can to make sure he reaches that greatness. His love for this planet will compel him to defend it and in doing so you what I have taught him to the best of his abilities. I helped Gohan save you because he obviously cares for you, it didn't matter to me so I went along with it. As for Buu…well that thing was just plain annoying."

He rose up after finishing and stood in front of the fire with his arms folded across his chest, giving Goku a side profile of his form. The fire's flickering light glittered between them as Goku cast him a small smile, as if a weight was suddenly lifted from his shoulders. Rising to meet his companion, he placed a hand on the slightly smaller saiyan's shoulder.

"I know another saiyan who use to be just like you when he first came to earth. All cold and withdrawn, not caring about anyone but himself, Earth change Vegeta, and with time I'm sure you'll warm up to everything as well Shadow." Said saiyan simply snorted lightly, while Goku continued smiling his normal carefree smile.

"You know what I think? I think you saved both Gohan and us because you cared, even if you won't admit it, and you helped destroy Buu because he was a threat to everyone's safety, am I right?"

Without shrugging off the others hand from his shoulder, Shadow rotated his head a quarter turn to look at Goku while raising an eyebrow. Concentrating, the sweats he had donned previously instantly liquefied and shifted over his body, and reformed into his previous dark attire. "This conversation is over." On that note, the world around them instantaneously faded to black.

(SC)

Goku blinked once, twice, and finally a third time before looking around, realizing that he was once again in the dark void that he had occupied when this whole escapade began. He wasn't alone for long though before his host appeared before him only a short distance away. "What now?"

"Now…we're done, at least for the time being, like I said before, it's on a need to know basis."

"You mean we're finally going back home?" The happiness in his voice leaked out as Goku pictured being with his friends and family again. This was all very informative for him, but there was only so much he felt he could stand, not to mention he didn't want to spend the rest of his borrowed time here on Earth stuck in some dream world.

"We never left Goku, this is all happening mentally, the others will be finished with their own sessions with me at the same time we are."

"Well what are we waiting for, let's go!" Shadow just held a hand up in protest.

"Not so fast, there's still one final matter I need to bring to your attention, one that I think you'll rather enjoy."

"You're halo Son Goku, or perhaps your current lack of one." Goku's hands immediately went up to grasp the golden ring above his head to find only air.

"Hey! What did you do?" The dark saiyan dared to look bemused for a second before becoming serious once again.

"I…" he emphasized by pointing at himself. "…Have done nothing. You can thank your friend Shin for that little miracle." Goku just stared at him in confusion. "While talking to you all this time, I have also been communicating with the others as well. After I told your little god friend what was to come, he disappeared to convene with the others of his kind." Goku looked at him amazed.

"Wow, you mean you brought me back to life, is there anything you can't do?"

"Correction Son, Shin brought you back to life, and in order to do so, one of the elder gods from Shin's world decided that Earth's need for you were once again so great, that one of them gave up their life to grant one to you." Goku looked horrified at the prospect of what was said.

"Don't worry, the elder that gave his life to you was near the end of his time as it was, even gods don't live forever, and he's in no worse shape then you were a few minutes ago, so don't go losing sleep over it. Everything has a beginning and an ending Goku, it was simply his time to pass. What you choose to do with this new life however is up to you."

"So I'm alive again, no strings attached?"

"Yep, you just got your travel ticket to the land of the living punched one way, congratulations." The whooping and hollering from the now ecstatic saiyan began to grate on his ears after the first couple of minutes. He finally pushed the overgrown child back when he tried to hug him in gratitude. "You try hugging me again and I'll make this the shortest lifespan you ever experience." Seeing as how his mind-linked charge didn't show any signs of stopping, Shadow sighed before ending their dream sequence with a swirl of his cape.

(SC)

The Brief's living room materialized before them literally in the blink of an eye, timed so that everyone became conscious of his or her surroundings together, minus Shin who had been dismissed earlier in order to complete his own set objective, securing another chance at life for Goku. Watching them all compare their individual experiences, Shadow flared out his ki signature, catching everyone's attention in order to address them all at once.

"I trust you've all found you own little adventures rather informative." He looked out at the group that was gathered around him, waiting for him to continue. "You know what's coming, when it's coming, and why it's coming. I've also taken the time to inform you all individually before bringing you back, one Son Goku's renewed status as a member among the living." This statement set off a round mixed emotions and voices as most of the group was now focusing on Goku and trying to talk to him all at once.

Trying to respond to everyone at once, Goku prepared to shout over them when he heard the front door slam shut and the presence of his eldest son's ki signature making it's way down the short hallway towards them, followed closely by another much smaller one he could only assume was Videl.

Noticing his sudden distraction, the other fighters capable of it, turned to the hallway as well, sensing the young demi-saiyan's approach. The room's remaining attendants looked his way as Gohan and Videl entered the room to stand before them. Gohan immediately sensed a light air about the room, but was clueless as to what it was until Goku stepped out of the crowd towards them, clearly pleased about something.

"Hey Gohan guess what...I'm back, isn't that great?" Clearly beyond confused as to what he was talking about, Gohan looked up above his father's head, but saw only air...his halo was gone.

End Chapter 10

Author's Notes:

Hello again, for those of you who have been following this story from the beginning, it's been a while since my last update. For those who have just recently discovered Love and War you'll come to find that I haven't been able to stay consistent with continuous chapters as of late. Now that I've gotten a large portion of the character introductions and some light plot lining done, I might start writing smaller chapters that may not focus so much with the overall story itself, but more on day to day events and maybe even mini-adventures of sorts.

The question now is where to go from here, and what should happen between now and the final conflict. I already have an ending or two in mind especially concerning the final battle whenever I finally write it, as well as a few uses for the dragonballs, both the Earth and Namekian. I'd like to hear any ideas that you might the readers might have to make this story even more interesting.

I've got a number of different, perhaps even outrageous ideas for chapters between now and the end, involving character crossovers, new angles and views on history and legends past. I'm even tempted to throw some sort of Star Wars themes or aspects into the mix just for fun, imaging both sides going at it in the end with light sabers (don't laugh, I bet Bulma could do it if she wanted to) or bringing to life heroes for histories past.

It's all just ideas and wild thinking for the moment, but that's why I need everyone's thoughts and opinions to help me carry this story through towards the end. Got an idea for the enemy's appearance, tell me. Want more action or less, tell me, no idea will be shot down without at least mild consideration.

As always, if you have any questions for me regarding this, or any of my stories, don't hesitate to ask. If I feel that I can answer them without giving away future plot material I will, plus I like it when questions are asked, means people are actually reading this story.

Now that I've finally finished this chapter, I'm going to take a little time off to let it sink in and get back to work on a few other story projects I have in the works, not to mention I need to get prepped for the spring term. Don't forget to check out the advertisements for my other works down below. So until next time everyone read, review, and enjoy.

------Other Works Brought To You By S. S. Shadow------

Tenchi Muyo

Gone, But Not Forgotten  
Tenchi takes a little walk to visit someone dear to him, and at the end is comforted by his chosen love. Surprise pairing at he end. Not the greatest summary, but the story is well worth it, I guarantee it. Told from Tenchi's P.O.V.

Rainy Day Lover  
When a rainstorm holds Tenchi up at Kiyone and Mihoshi's apartment, its up to Mihoshi to help her two best friends admit their feelings for one another. Tenchi/Kiyone fic. Due to a little frenching, I rated this pg13 just to be safe.

Lovers Revealed  
Tenchi and Kiyone have finally told each other how they feel, now they just have to tell the rest of the family. A new love also forms, sequel to Rainy Day Lover.

Gundam Wing

The Pain and Joy of Love  
A series of chapters, each of which will be written around a song I have chosen as the theme of said chapter. HYLN pairing. NOW COMPLETE! Enjoy :)

Old Love, New Love  
Told mostly from Heero's POV. Heero's pays a visit to Relena's grave and reminisces of his past and current loves. Surprising coupling at the end. PG13 just to be safe.

Yu-Gi-Oh

The Odd Couple  
First attempt at a Yu-Gi-Oh fic. Eventual Joey/Ishizu pairing. Slow plot development at first, but will pick up in following chapters. Rating will go up slightly in later chapters

WWE

In Remembrance of Eddie Guerrero  
My personal tribute to the man who was and still is...Eddie Guerrero. The work is better then the summary, believe that.


	14. Chapter XI: Now What?

Love and War

Chapter 11 of ?

Disclaimer: I herby declare that I DO NOT own any of the characters presented in this story. They are the sole property of their rightful owners. I do however own the plot for this story. I do this for no financial gain whatsoever. I do this for the sole purpose to entertain you, and myself.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

(SC) = Scene change

Gohan stared at the spot where his father's halo used to be for a minute before noticing that everyone was still staring at him, waiting for his reaction. Covering his surprise, Gohan put a smile on his face before responding.

"Wow, that's great dad." The words struggled a little to come out, but Goku's smile widen at his son's words before turning back to some of the crowds more inquisitive members, unaware that Gohan didn't even ask how he was alive, nor noticing the smile slip from his face at his turned back. Gohan scanned the room till his eyes met Shadows and jerked his head to the side, silently requesting his presence in private. Nodding, Shadow silently began moving across the room towards the couple. "Hey Videl, could you excuse me for a minute, I need to talk to Shadow." She gave him an inquisitive glance, but said nothing before leaving him to join the rest of the room's occupants.

Shadow waited next to his pupil till the girl was out of earshot before speaking. "Is there something wrong?" Gohan shook his head.

"Not here, the walls have ears," the young saiyan quipped, gesturing to the groups resident namekian and saiyan prince who, for all their attempts to hide it, twitched their ears in response to the private conversation about to take place.

Shadow nodded and gestured towards the door; the two warriors took their leave and made their way out of the house before stopping on the front lawn. Shadow turned to face Gohan, who now had a tense expression upon his face. "Care to tell me exactly how and why my father is suddenly with us among the living again, I thought he was suppose to return to Otherworld tomorrow?

"It seems that the kais of Otherworld thought differently." His voice held no emotion as he spoke to the young saiyan in a factual manner. "After learning of what's to come, they felt that he might serve a better purpose here on Earth with us, so one of the elders near the end of the line, volunteered to sacrifice whatever time he had left in order to return Goku to life."

"And what purpose might that be exactly? How's he going to help us when they attack huh? Dad's a fighter, but he's too soft with the enemy." Gohan began pacing in front of Shadow.

"Goku may hesitate to take a life, but that doesn't make him a bad fighter, it…" Gohan cut him off as he continued pacing.

"It means that in a fight, we can't rely on him to get the job done when it requires the final solution. If he hesitates at the wrong moment, it's over, and then he's gone again," Shadow quirked an eyebrow at Gohan's latest comment.

"Are you sure that it's your father's abilities as a fighter that are in question here, or perhaps its something else about the situation that's troubling you, something more personal perhaps?" Gohan froze mid-step and whipped his head around to stare at his latest mentor. He said nothing, but his eyes spoke volumes. Walking to a point just past the demi-saiyan's shoulder Shadow paused. "I'm not the one you should be talking to Gohan, deal with this situation as you must, but do not let the problem lay and fester, lest you yourself become distracted, and a victim of your own emotions." The two stood in silence, one stoic, the other in quiet contemplation. "Lets go back in, the others will be wondering about us." With that Shadow continued walking towards the house, Gohan stood alone for a moment, staring up to the stars, before turning around and hurrying after Shadow.

(SC)

"So where are you going to stay Shadow?" Biting back a silent curse he turned to the inquisitive blue haired scientist. He had hoped to delay if not avoid the topic entirely but apparently it wasn't to be. Blindsiding him with the question the minute he entered the room not only caught him off guard but also effectively silenced the crowd in one breath. Initially he was going to travel the planet for the first few months; scan potential hot spots for activity, get reacquainted with the land, then set up a base of operations to work and plan from in preparation for what was to come. The collection of fighters gathered in the room were by no means the only ones Earth had to offer, some of them weren't even the strongest, but Japan certainly seemed to have the highest concentration of them in one place, and when the shit eventually hit the fan he knew they would come here first.

Seeing everyone waiting for his response Shadow shrugged. "I honestly haven't given it much thought. There's plenty of resources to draw from around the world so I can survive basically anywhere." He kept his tone casual but despite whom she was talking to, Bulma couldn't keep a glimmer of concern from catching his attention.

"Well why don't you stay here then? We've got plenty of room and then you don't have to be alone." She ignored Vegeta's protest in the background, it's not like he wore the pants in this house. Then again when has a guy ever won an argument regarding something important? Shadow felt the corner of his mouth twitch upward in amusement.

"I appreciate the gesture Miss Briefs, but I assure you; I've been taking care of myself long before coming here, and I'll do the same once I leave."

"First of all young man," she huffed, interrupting him. "Yes I know you're probably older then the hills, but you still don't look a day over 21, and the name is Bulma, none of that formality crap among friends." She noticed his eyes narrowing and hurried along. "Look, despite living as long as you have, you're too young, at least in appearance, to be going around by yourself." Shadow crossed his arms over his chest in a show of defense.

"I'm not exactly what you'd consider family oriented." Bulma wanted to continue but Gohan chose then to step up beside him and rested a hand on his shoulder across the stubborn saiyan's back while grinning. The sight worried him.

"You know, if you stayed here you'd be close enough that you could even attend school with me. What better way to learn about history and current events?" Bulma saw an opening and took it.

"It'd be perfect! You could catch up on the history of the world at school, and monitor current events from here. Sounds like a win-win situation to me." Shadow paused to actually ponder the possibilities. With the Capsule Corp super computers and satellites he could essentially watch everywhere at once, and in the event a situation did arise, it would be beneficial having his apprentice for backup should the need arise.

" I can agree with the idea of working from here Miss… Bulma…" he corrected himself at said woman's glare. "Though I still don't see the need for school. I could be spending such time doing something much more productive, like training." He paused to look at Gohan. "We both could." A screeching wail pierced the air as he watched Gohan's face pale instantly before pulling away from him and backing up. Looking ahead he was treated to the site of an enraged Chi-Chi stomping her way towards him. Curious and ignorant to the frantic waving of Goku from behind telling him to run, he stood his ground as the brunette stopped in front of him. Poking him in the chest to emphasize her words, his eyes widened as this visible wisp of woman actually managed to nudge his torso backwards with each jab.

"Now you listen here buster. I don't know what the two of you have been doing all this time but my Gohan has been neglecting his studies long enough. He is going back to school, and that's final," Chi-Chi paused, "And you're going with him." He brushed her hand away stood erect again.

"I can't speak for Gohan madam but I for one will not be forced into something as mundane as school when I could be getting stronger." The collective gasp threatened to suck the air from the room. A resounding thud left the stunned warrior seeing a string of stars circling his head. Staring in shock from a knee at the woman above him holding a now dented frying he cried out, "What the hell?"

"I swear you're just like those two," she yelled while gesturing to the two remaining pureblooded saiyans in the room who were now trying to edge away from the deadly utensil's line of sight. "Train, train, train that's all you ever want to do. Well not this time. You're going to take Bulma's offer, go to school with Gohan, and become positive influence in his life for once." She jabbed his chest with the frying pan one more time to get her point across. "Got it?"

Shadow took his time getting up. Taking in the woman's words, crazy sprung to mind, considering his abilities with a frying pan freakishly strong followed shortly. Whether she had a point or he just wanted to avoid a second round with that accused pan of hers he grudgingly relented. "I suppose it would be beneficial in the long run." Ignoring the female Son's triumphant smirk he addressed the second woman before him. "If the offer still stands Bulma, I'd be happy to accept your generous offer."

"Wonderful!" She clapped her hands once before addressing the room. "Alright everyone, there's been enough excitement for one day so lets call it a night." Getting the message everyone began leaving. Saying their goodbyes Goku with Chi-Chi held close and Goten in tow took of towards home. Wanting to escort her home Gohan and Videl took off towards Satan city. Those remaining dispersed and headed off towards their respective dwellings leaving two saiyans and one woman with their newest houseguest.

"Well, let's get you settled in then. We've got a number of guest rooms already set up so all you have to do is pick one, I'll show you the way." Receiving a good night and a small grunt from Trunks and Vegeta respectfully Shadow followed his aqua haired host down the hallway. It had been a long day and a good night's rest at the moment sounded divine.

End Chapter 11

Author's Notes: Well what can I say; it's certainly been a while since my last update of this story, nearly three years to be exact. I'm sorry it took so long to finally finish the next chapter, and that its so short compared to the others, but I wanted to churn it out and set the stage somewhat for the next segment to begin. The Buu saga is over, somewhat prematurely perhaps, and no the pink blob will not be making a return anywhere in the foreseeable future. Also aside from maybe group gatherings and similar situations, don't expect much airtime for some of the lesser characters. Most of the story will be revolving around the Sons, Briefs, Shadow, and Vegeta, though I may include the others at points.

I've also kind of painted myself into a corner where the main enemy force is concerned. I pretty much have it planned as far as chain of command and how many there'll be, but I have no idea what they'll look like or what to call them, hence why none of them have made an appearance or been referred to as of yet. So any ideas or opinions concerning them you want to share are more then welcomed.

I suppose that's it. Once again I apologize for the small size of the chapter, but its main purpose was to wrap up the Buu saga and set the stage for the next leg of the story. Hopefully I'll be able to make the next chapter longer, but like mentioned before I won't rush it. In the meantime feel free to browse any of the other stories on my authors page if the notion strikes you. They've served to entertain and even inspire a couple others to write works of their own. Otherwise like always; read, review, and enjoy.


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